MGS2 Sons of Liberty Another Side: Solid Snake
by Crash5020
Summary: Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty from the perspective of Solid Snake.
1. Prologue

The Hudson River, Two years ago. Ocelot has just killed Scott Dolph and Sergei Gurlukovich and detonated the C4 on the Tanker. Determined not to let Ocelot escape with Metal Gear RAY, Snake confronted him, but suddenly Ocelot began to experience a pain coming from his right arm. Ocelot ripped his sleeve of and turned his attention to me.

"It's been a while, brother!" said Ocelot.

"Who are you?," asked Snake.

"You know who I am," said Ocelot.

Snake didn't want to believe it but there's only one person who would talk to him like that.

"Liquid?" asked Snake.

"Not so young anymore, eh, Snake…," said Liquid. "You're drowning in time. I know what it's like, brother."

Snake tried to process this bizarre turn of events as Liquid continued, "No wonder Naomi passed you over for the FOXDIE program.

Ocelot's right arm began to spasm again and Snake heard Ocelot say, "Out - get out of my mind! Liquid…"

Ocelot let out a roar and after a few seconds of silence, Liquid said, "The price of physical prodigy… Few more years and you'll be another dead clone of the old man. Our raw materials are vintage, brother. Big Boss was in his 30s when they created his copies. But I - I live on, through this arm."

Snake took a closer look at Ocelot's right arm and realized that it was Liquid's. Suddenly, an explosion knocked Snake off his feet and Liquid took the chance to enter Metal Gear RAY. Liquid activated Metal Gear RAY just as Snake climbed back on to the platform.

"You don't have what it takes after all," said Liquid. "You're going down, Snake - with this tanker!"

Metal Gear RAY stomped on the platform Snake was standing on with enough force to fling Snake into a nearby wall, knocking him unconscious. A few minutes later, Snake woke up and found Metal Gear RAY running rampant.

"Otacon, we have a problem…," Snake reported.

Metal Gear Ray fired its hydraulic beam and ripped a hole into the tanker, allowing more water to rush in. The surge of water rushing in knocked Snake into the water, causing Otacon to yell, "Snaaaaake!"

Snake swam through the Holds and latched onto a ladder. Snake climbed out of the water and ran down the path he came through. Water came rushing in behind him and eventually the floor under him crumbled away, causing Snake to fall in the water. Snake looked around and spotted a hole large enough to swim through. Snake swam through the hole and swam to the surface. Once there, Snake noticed RAY land on the remains of the Tanker. RAY then backfliped into the river and disappeared.

"Damn it!," said an irritated Snake.

Snake watched the Tanker sink and saw Olga slide into the river. Snake dived into the river and swam to her. Snake grabbed Olga and swam back to the surface. Snake then proceeded to swim away from the wreckage and noticed a boat headed his way. Snake swam to the boat and was surprised to find Otacon manning it.

"Come on, Snake!" said Otacon. "We need to go!"

Snake lifted Olga onto the boat and jumped in himself.

"It seems like things got more complicated than we originally thought," said Otacon.

"Liquid…," Snake muttered.

"Hm?"

"Nothing."

The next day…

"Snake," Otacon called out.

"What is it?" asked Snake.

"Come look at this," said Otacon.

Snake walked up to Otacon and Otacon opened up a link on his computer. The link leads to a news site and an article about the Tanker Incident popped up. Otacon scrolled through the article and Snake said, "So, I sunk a tanker full of crude oil, huh?"

"I don't remember they're being oil on that Tanker," said Otacon. "The only thing in the Holds was RAY."

"So that's what the Cypher was for," said Snake. "It needed pictures of me at the scene of the crime."

"There must have been another tanker there full of crude oil close by," said Otacon. "Once RAY was acquired, the dummy tanker would arrive at the scene and sink itself to release the oil."

"We were played," said Snake.

"It's also reported that you died during the whole fiasco," said Otacon.

"It seems like that's what was supposed to happen," said Snake.

"But the thing is, no one collected the bodies from the incident yet," said Otacon.

"So whoever set me up really believes that I'm dead," said Snake.

Snake pulled out a cigarette and lit it up.

"Well when they don't find your body they'll know that you're alive," said Otacon. "I guess we'll let that show them that they failed."

"No," said Snake.

"No?" said a confused Otacon.

"Let's let them think I'm dead," said Snake. "We can use this to our advantage. Besides with this whole eco-terrorist lie everyone will be after us."

"I agree that going underground would probably be the best course of action," said Otacon. "But what about the fact your body isn't at the scene of the crime?"

"Where's Liquid's body, Otacon?" asked Snake.

"Liquid? What are you…?" asked Otacon. "Oh, I get it. We'll use Liquid's body to throw them off our trail and since you guys are identical on a genetic level no will be able to tell the difference. I'll start looking for him right away."

18:45, Secret Government Facility Holding Liquid's Body.

A supply truck drove up to the facility's gates and waited for it to open.

"Alright, Snake, I guess I don't have to tell you that it's important to stay out of sight here."

"Isn't that what I always do?"

"Well, difference here is that if you any one sees you then everyone will know that you're alive. And we don't want that now do we? So try to avoid any firefights."

"Guess that means I shouldn't use Olga's USP."

"Right. You should mostly try to rely on your M9 tranquilizer."

The gate opened and the supply truck drove into the facility.

"Where's Liquid, Otacon?"

"His body is being held in a freezer underground."

"How do we get him out of here?"

"There's a secret underground passage that can get you out of there."

"Why didn't I use that to get in there?"

"You can access it from the inside. You should know that things are never that easy for us."

"As long as I don't run into another sudden family member of mine."

The supply truck drove up to the admin building and the driver parked it there. Snake crawled from under his cardboard box and surveyed the area. Snake jumped from the back of truck and snuck into the admin building. Snake ducked behind a pile of boxes and called Otacon.

"Otacon, how do I get to Liquid from here?" asked Snake.

"There should be an elevator around there to get you to the floor Liquid is on," said Otacon.

Snake spotted an elevator on the other side of the room and snuck over to it. Snake pressed the down button and waited for the elevator. The elevator doors opened and Snake found four soldiers were already on it. Snake walked into the elevator and pressed the B4 button. The elevator doors closed and the elevator move down to B4 floor. The elevator doors opened and Snake walked out, leaving the unconscious guards behind.

Snake looked around and noticed a freezer door. Snake walked up to the door, looked through the glass and spotted Liquid's body.

"Otacon, I've found Liquid's body," said Snake.

"All right," said Otacon. Get him and get out of there quickly."

Snake opened the freezer door and walked up to Liquid's corpse. Snake remembered Liquid's appearance on the Tanker and said, "Not even death can stop you, can it?"


	2. Pliskin

2 years later…

Snake swam through the Hudson River as he makes his way to the large marine decontamination facility known as The Big Shell. Snake called Otacon and said, "Otacon, I'm on my way to the oil fence. How are you doing?"

"I just got here with SEAL Team 10's Bravo Team on Strut C," said Otacon. "So far there are no guards around. You should come around here if you need any rations."

"You learn anything about the new Metal Gear or your sister yet?" asked Snake.

"No, but I'll keep looking out for new info," said Otacon.

Otacon hung up and Snake swam up to the oil fence. Snake pulled out a wire cutter and cut a hole in the fence. Snake swam through the hole and entered the Deep Sea Dock. Snake swam to the surface, climbed out of the water and looked around. With no guards around, Snake climbed out of the water and ran up to a hatch door. Snake opened the door and found a guard on the other side of it.

"That's a Gurlukovich soldier," Snake thought to himself.

Snake quietly snuck up to the guard and quickly knocked him off his feet with a two punch kick combo. Snake noticed another guard down the hall and threw him into a nearby crate, knocking him out. Snake then noticed an elevator in front of him and walked on it. As the elevator began to move up, the first guard Snake dispatched jumped on to stop him but is soon punched off. The elevator doors closed as Snake heads up. The elevator stopped at the top and Snake walked onto Strut A's rooftop. Snake's codec started to ring and he quickly answered it.

"Snake," said Otacon.

"Otacon, where are you?" asked Snake.

"I'm checking out the security on the doors here," said Otacon. "They need Key Cards like at Shadow Moses."

"Not Key Cards again," said Snake.

"What's wrong with Key Cards?" asked Otacon. "They're great for security."

"Let's just say they're one of the reasons I had to run back and forth through Shadow Moses," said Snake.

"Really?" asked Otacon.

"Yeah," Snake answered. "Every time I got a new one, I find myself having to go back to a previous area to open a door I couldn't before to get something I need."

"Huh. So not only did you have to take on FOXHOUND and REX, but you also did enough running to make an Olympic class runner jealous," said Otacon. "How did you not get tired?"

"I tell you some other day," said Snake.

"I'll hold you to that," said Otacon. "Anyway I left you what you asked for in a locker in Strut A."

"Alright, I'm on my way," said Snake.

Snake crawled under one of the fences on the roof and ran down the steps. Snake stopped at the last step and looked around the corner for guards. As soon as a guard walk around a corner, Snake walked the opposite direction and opened a locker, where he found a SEALS uniform in there. Snake climbed into the locker and put the uniform on. Snake walked out of the locker and ran out of Strut A to the AB bridge. Snake gets across the bridge with no problem and entered Strut B.

Snake soon heard gunshots coming from the electric generator room. Snake slowly walked around to the other door to the generator room as he heard the gunshots eventually stop. After a couple seconds of silence, he heard a loud screech. Snake grabbed his M4 assault rifle and walked into the room where he found a rookie agent about to be attacked by Dead Cell Member, Vamp.

"Get Down!," Snake shouted.

The rookie quickly ducked as Snake opened fire at Vamp. Vamp quickly moved out of sight and Snake slowly walked around to look for him.

"Where is he!" Snaked asked himself.

Vamp suddenly dropped in front of Snake and cut his left arm with a knife, dropping his M4 in the process. Vamp grabbed Snake by the head as the rookie grabbed his M4. Vamp pinned Snake to the wall and inspected him.

"Hmmm? Strange smell…," said Vamp. "You smell like -!

Vamp tossed Snake to the ground and said, "Are you – it has to be!"

Snake turned his attention to the rookie and shouted, "Shoot him! What are you waiting for!"

The rookie shot a burst, but to his surprise, Vamp dodged all the bullets by spinning. Vamp soon stopped and answered a call. With Vamp preoccupied, Snake took the moment to pass a fresh magazine to the rookie. The rookie grabbed the magazine and inserted it to the gun. Vamp finished his call and quickly left the room before the rookie could have a chance to fire. The rookie then pointed the M4 at Snake as he tried to get up.

"Hold on, I'm not an enemy. Calm down," said Snake.

Snake leaned against a fence and said, "My name is S… My name is… Pliskin. Iroquois Pliskin. Lieutenant Junior Grade."

Snake removed his balaclava and the rookie asked, "Are you a Navy SEAL?"

Snake remained quiet and the rookie then asked, "How did you get in?"

Not wanting to give away his identity, Snake quickly answered, "Fast rope descent, from a Navy chopper."

"Have I seen you before?" the rookie asked.

Snake ignored the question and examined the suit the rookie was wearing.

"That suit – are you FOXHOUND?" Snake asked.

The rookie was slightly taken aback about Snake knowing the truth but answered with, "… That's right."

"FOXHOUND was disbanded," said Snake.

The rookie stared at Snake with a confused look on his face and Snake asked, "Where were you before FOXHOUND? Delta Force?"

"I was part of the Army's Force XXI trials…," the rookie answered.

"Force XXI? That's about tactical IT deployment right, right?" asked Snake. "Any field experience?"

"No – not really," the rookie answered.

"So this is your first," Snake concluded.

"I've had extensive training – the kind that's indistinguishable from the real thing," said the rookie.

"Like what?" asked Snake.

"Sneaking Mission 60, Weapons 80, Advanced –

Snake cut the rookie off and said, "VR, huh."

"But realistic in every way," the rookie said.

"A virtual grunt of the digital age. That's just great," said Snake.

"That's far more effective than live exercises," the rookie said.

"You don't get injured in VR, do you?" asked Snake. "Every year, a few soldiers die in field exercises."

"There's pain sensation in VR, and even a sense of reality and urgency," the rookie said. "The only difference is that it isn't actually happening."

"That's the way they want you to think, to remove you from the fear that goes with battle situations," said Snake. "War as a video game – what better way to raise the ultimate soldier?"

The rookie handed Snake his M4 back and asked, "So you're saying that VR training is some kind of mind control?"

As Snake stood up, the rookie turned away and said, "The Alpha team from Navy SEAL 10 is dead… no, a single survivor."

Snake realized that he's on the Codec and said, "The kid's wired with nanomachines."

Snake took the moment to bandage his arm and look around the room, where he found a dead man with a broken handcuff on his right arm. The rookie walked up to him and Snake told him to take a look.

"What the hell…?," asked the rookie.

"A Navy Captain…," said Snake.

Snake suddenly felt winded and started to lose his balance. Snake sat down on a nearby step and the rookie asked, "You all right?"

"Give me a few minutes," said Snake. "Must have lost a few more pints than I thought."

Snake pulled out a pack of cigarettes and placed one in his mouth.

"What was that man—just now?," the rookie asked.

Snake lit his cigarette and said, "That bloodsucking freak? That was Vamp… He's Romanian, a wizard with knives as you saw."

"The way he moved – didn't seem human," the rookie said.

"You won't see that in VR, I guarantee," said Snake.

"What is he?" the rookie asked.

"One of the members of Dead Cell," Snake answered.

"Dead Cell… Him?" the rookie asked.

"A special forces unit created by Ex-President George Sears," Snake explained. "The name was originally intended to reflect its anti-terrorist functions. The unit would launch unannounced assaults on government complexes, for the ultimate terrorism simulation. They were needed to show VR troopers like you how to deal with the real thing. But around the time their original leader died in prison, the unit began to unravel. They were always close to the edge, but they became more and more extreme. Began to go after U.S. allies, even civilians. We estimate that no fewer than a hundred people died as a result of "accidents" the Dead Cell arranged on their own. They were out of control – and it all came to a head six months ago."

"What happened?," the rookie asked.

"The unit was devastated," said Snake. "There are only three left now – and you just saw one of them."

"Why would they go after the Big Shell?" the rookie asked.

"How should I know? I told you they were on the lunatic fringe," said Snake.

"What about they're leader?" the rookie asked. "He says he's Solid Snake?"

"Snake died two years ago," said Snake.

"You mean the incident that made this Big Shell necessary in the first place," the rookie said.

"Right. And he was the one who sank that tanker," said Snake.

"But he's a Legend -," the rookie said.

"Legends are usually bad news," said Snake. "There's not a lot of difference between heroes and madmen…"

"You're saying Snake is still alive and pulled another one?" the rookie asked.

"No, he's not involved in this one," said Snake. "His body was positively ID'd two years ago."

"Snake is dead…," the rookie muttered.

"And buried," said Snake.

"What about the other soldiers?" the rookie asked. "I saw Russian equipment too."

"Former Soviet military. They're probably mercenaries," said Snake. "The Big Shell is too much ground for just Dead Cell members to hold down. You weren't briefed on any of this? …and you came in alone to boot? Why?"

The rookie tried to think of an answer and Snake asked, "What are you really doing here?"

The rookie remained silent and Snake said, "Can't tell me, huh? Fine with me…"

Snake handed the rookie his pack of cigarettes.

"I don't smoke," the rookie said.

"Keep it anyway. May come in handy," said Snake.

The rookie accepted the cigarettes and Snake pulled out a SOCOM pistol.

"Take this too," said Snake.

The rookie took the SOCOM and they heard a report from Bravo Zero from one of the dead soldiers walkie-talkies. Bravo Zero started to beg for backup and the rookie asked, "Aren't you going to answer him?!"

The radio goes dead and Snake said, "The BC connecting bridge."

"We need to get there," the rookie said. "Can you handle it?"

"I need a few more minutes," said Snake.

The rookie started to leave and Snake said, "Remember my frequency – it's 141.80."

"141.80. Got it," said the rookie.

"I've been briefed on this plant's layout," said Snake. "If you need information on the place or about Dead Cell, contact me. You're using nano communication, right?"

"Yeah. But I can patch into your frequency," the rookie said.

Raiden walked up the steps and Snake asked, "Hey – what's your name?"

"Raiden," the rookie answered.

"Raiden? Strange code name," said Snake.

"Makes up for boring one my parents gave me," said Raiden.

"Maybe I'll find out someday," said Snake.

Raiden walked out the room and Snake closed his eyes for some rest.


	3. Peter Stillman Part 1

Snake woke up and looked around for any guards. Snake then heard his codec ring and answered it.

"Snake, you okay?" asked Otacon.

"Yeah," said Snake. "How are you doing?"

"Not good, I got separated from the rest of the Seal Team 10 when they were attack and now I'm hiding out at Strut E. But I'll keep doing what you asked"

"Okay. I gotta go meet up with someone."

"Who?"

"Possibly a pawn of the Patriots. I'll keep a close eye on him."

Snake made his way his way to the BC connecting bridge and noticed the bridge to the Shell 1 Core is gone. Snake walked into the Strut C and heard Raiden's voice. Snake walked into the dining area and found Raiden pointing his SOCOM at a man on the ground. The man stood up, prompting Raiden to shout, "Did I say you could move?"

Snake walked into the kitchen and said, "It's all right. He's not one of the bad guys."

Surprised, Raiden aimed his gun at Snake who responded with, "Don't go pointing that thing everywhere, kid."

Raiden lowered his gun and Snake asked the man for his name.

"My name is Peter. Peter Stillman," the man answered.

"Lecturer at NAVSCOLEOD Indian Head…," said Snake. "Also a consultant for the NYPD bomb squad."

"A poor old man who got dragged along for this picnic," said Peter

"I thought you'd retired," said Snake.

"I did," said Peter. "Can't keep up with everybody, as you can see."

Snake and Raiden watched Peter wobbled to them and they realized one of his legs are fake.

"A famous church got wiped off the map thanks to me. With too many lives inside," said Peter. "All I lost was this leg."

"So you're the bomb disposal guy?" asked Raiden.

"Kid, this is THE bomb disposal guy," said Snake. "Open any explosives disposal textbook and you'll see his name."

"Heh, just ancient history now," said Peter.

"Why did they bring you out of retirement them?" asked Raiden.

"Because the terrorist group here includes one of my student. The Emperor of Explosives – Fatman," Peter answered. "He built an atomic bomb when he was only ten. I created him in a sense."

"And that's why you're here…," said Snake.

"I'm pretty rusty," said Peter. "I was supposed to supervise the bomb disposal – looks like it was taken care of before I had my turn.

"I wouldn't say that," said Snake. "There are at least two people here who can claim to be experts at bomb disposal."

"Are you two with SEAL team 10?" asked Peter. "I didn't see you at the mission briefing."

"Oh, we're with another squad," said Snake as he extended his hand towards Peter. "My name is Pliskin, Lieutenant Junior Grade. Honored to meet you, sir."

Peter ignored the gesture and asked, "Mr. Pliskin, do you have any experience with bomb disposal?"

"Don't worry about me," said Snake.

Snake glanced at Raiden and said, "And he looks young, but he can do it. But we need more manpower."

"I'm ah…"

Raiden paused and Peter asked him, "What's your name?"

"Raiden," Raiden answered.

"That's an odd name," said Peter.

"Any other survivors?" asked Raiden.

"There was also an engineer with me," said Peter.

"An engineer?" said Raiden.

"A skinny guy," said Peter. "He went in with us…"

"Where is he?" asked Raiden.

"I haven't seen him since that skirmish," said Peter.

"Was he killed?" asked Raiden.

"I don't think so. I didn't find his body," said Peter.

"I see…" said Snake.

"They told me he was the security systems architect for the Big Shell," said Peter.

"Why would they take a civilian along?" asked Raiden.

"Everything in this structure is computer-controlled," Peter explained. "He was supposed to get us past all the security measures.

"I never heard anything about that," said Raiden.

"He had official orders with him," said Peter.

Raiden was confused but Snake needed him to stay focus and told him to leave that for later.

"Right now, we need to figure out how to deal with all the bombs," said Snake.

"But there's no one left from the SEAL's EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) squad," said Raiden.

"Yep. So we have to do it ourselves," said Snake.

"But I've never defused a bomb before...," said Raiden.

Raiden paused and a few seconds later said, "Hold on a sec."

"Off to confer with the CO again?" asked Snake.

As Raiden talked on his codec, Snake asked Peter, "Don't you think it's weird that Fatman is working with these terrorists?"

"This is probably just a new excuse to blow more stuff up," said Peter.

"But don't you think he would've done that by now?"

"What do you mean?"

"I read his files. Apparently President George Sears had problems keeping him on a leash. He problems following orders and doing whatever he wanted. With all the VIPs here it seems like he would have destroyed this place by now."

"…You're right. It does seem strange. Maybe he has some ulterior motive."

Raiden looked back at them and said, "I'm ready to go."

"All right," said Peter. "There's no need to think about this so much. You won't actually be dismantling the bomb. That's not for amateurs. What we'll try here is a temporary freezing measure."

Peter grabbed a C4 bomb and placed it on the counter.

"This is a C4 bomb," Peter said before turning it on. "It's live, you can see it pulsing."

Peter grabbed a spray canister and said, "Now you spray this on the sucker and..."

Peter sprayed the bomb, freezing it in the process.

"… there we go. Simple, huh?" said Peter. "The spray freezes the detonator instantly."

"How long does the effect last?" asked Raiden.

"There's no way the thing can detonate in this condition," said Peter. "Even if you leave it alone, it will stay out of commission for at least 24 hours."

"That's enough time," said Snake.

"If we had the manpower, I'd recommend complete disposal. But this will have to do," said Peter. "The spray can be used from several yards away. Now check the floor, ceiling, walls, and on the tables, everywhere. Try to imagine the location of the bombs could be."

"That won't be easy, we don't know a thing about Fatman," said Snake.

"Is there anything that'll help us locate the bombs?" asked Raiden.

Peter picked up a sensor and said, "Here, take this with you. It's what they call an Ion Mobility Spectrometer. It can recognize ionized gas emitted by C4's."

"So in other words it sniffs out the bombs," said Snake.

"What if Fatman uses a different type of scentless bomb?" asked Raiden.

"I know Fatman well. I know how into his own aesthetics he is," said Peter.

"Signatures?" asked Snake.

"Yes," said Peter. "On every bomb he builds, he always leaves a trace of the cologne he uses. The sensor also picks up that particular scent spectrum."

"Is that something he learned from you?" asked Snake.

"No, it was his own quirk," said Peter. "He wouldn't work by any rules except his own, and he followed them like a religion. And common sense isn't one of his strong points. I thought I taught him everything I knew... I have no children of my own, and I thought I found a son in him.

He had the right stuff, you know. There's something very unusual about an ability like that. Even at Indian Head, he got special treatment. I remember some people called him one of the 'fat cats'. Maybe that's what started all this. I didn't teach him the most important thing I had to tell him. There are some things you have to pass on. The trick is to know which one. Right... All I taught him were skills. And now I have to stop him from using it to destroy us all."

"Do you know which parts of the Big Shell the bombs would be at?" asked Raiden.

"I know the layout of this facility and if he wants to take out the plant, where he would target," said Peter. "I taught him the techniques. His ideas are based on my theories. Demolition is a kind of ideology and makes no exceptions to time or place. Big Shell consists of two hexagons end-on-end north to south. They should be backing C4 on each of the vertexes or the struts in this case. You need at least that to take a building of this integrity out."

"Six on Shell 1. Another six on Shell 2. A total of twelve bombs at least," said Snake.

"Considering this shell's architecture and composition from a engineering standpoint, that's my conclusion. And that is exactly what he would have decided as well," said Peter.

Both Raiden and Pliskin grabbed their Coolant Spray and Sensors.

"Kid, this place is all yours. I'll take care of Shell 2," said Snake.

Peter slid a Key Card to Raiden, who asked what it is.

"Security cards issued to Shell personnel," said Peter. "The Big Shell security layout includes varying levels off limits. The clearance level is indicated by the number printed on these doors. Raiden, your cardkey can open doors of security level 1. Pliskin, your card can get you into level 3 areas. You need it to get next door to Shell 2."

"How did you get these?" asked Raiden.

That engineer I told you about gave it to me. He was supposed to program a set of all access cards once we were on site. Unfortunately, this card won't get you into every area of this structure," Peter explained.

"We'll have to deal with the remaining security lock-ups as they come up," said Snake. "Let's get going."

Snake started heading to the door until he saw that Peter was following behind.

"You stay here," said Snake.

"No, I'm going," said Peter.

"The two of us can handle it, don't worry," said Snake.

"But…"

"You'll just slow us down with that leg of yours. There's a war going on here. I don't have time to babysit anymore," said Snake.

"Why don't you just let us do all the grunt work. You can tell us what to do over the radio like in the original mission plan," Raiden suggested.

Peter sat down on a stool and said, "Alright. I'll give you instructions from here. I may also need to prepare a back-up plan just in case."

"In case of what?" asked Raiden.

"Good luck to both of you. This is a dangerous one," said Peter.

"Who dares, wins," said Snake.

"If anything comes up, let me know," said Peter. "My frequency is 140.15."

"Good luck, kid. I'll see you later," said Snake.

Snake walked to the door and as he walked out he said, "Semper fi."


	4. Peter Stillman Part 2

A soldier walked through Strut G until he noticed that there was a cardboard box in the middle of the room. The soldier walked up to the box, aimed his gun at it and fired at it. The soldier checked the box and was surprised that nothing was in it. He was then knocked unconscious from behind by Snake, who then pulled out his coolant spray and froze the C4 attached to the soldiers back.

"Done," Snake said before his codec started to ring.

Snake answered it and Raiden said, "I saw a female soldier - Russian."

"Must be Olga Gurlukovich," said Snake.

"How do you know?" asked Raiden.

"Unlike you, I've been briefed."

"She's not a Dead Cell?"

"No, she commands a Russian private army."

"They must be the ones patrolling the Big Shell."

"That's right. She's led the group ever since her old man, Colonel Gurlukovich, died. Watch yourself with her. She's a tough one. Now I have to deal with some important business."

"The bombs?"

"Something else."

Snake switched frequencies to Otacon's and reported, "Otacon, I'm running low on cardboard boxes."

"What happened to them?" asked Otacon.

"The kid ruined most of them."

"Oh. Well how goes the C4 hunt?"

"They're in really weird locations."

"How weird?"

"I found one strapped to the back of one of the soldiers here."

Snake's codec started to beep and he switched to Peter's frequency.

"Pliskin, I need you to do me a favor," said Peter.

"What is it, Pete?" asked Snake.

"The C4 that you and Raiden found so far aren't in sufficient areas to bring the Big Shell down."

"Yeah, you mentioned that before."

"I think there's more to this situation than meets the eye. I want you to look around Shell 2 for any C4 that the sensors can't pick up."

"Alright, I'll take a look."

Snake switched back to Otacon's frequency and informed him of the situation.

"Looks like you'll still be busy with Fatman's bombs for a while," said Otacon. "I'll continue with our real mission while you deal with that."

"Roger that," Snake said before ending the call.

Snake searched the struts of Shell 2 until he stumbled upon a large cache of C4 at the bottom of Strut H. Snake pulled out his sensor and was surprised that the sensor didn't detect them. Snake contacted Peter who was in the middle of talking with Raiden.

"This is Pliskin," said Snake. "Do you read me, Pete?"

"I'm here," Peter replied. "What's up?"

"Raiden, you need to hear this too," Snake added.

"I'm listening," said Raiden.

"I checked out the bottom of Strut H for you, Pete," said Snake.

"Wait – what's this about?" asked a confused Raiden.

"I asked Pliskin to look around," Peter explained. "Knowing Fatman, I can't shake the feeling that all the bombs so far were just wrong."

"So did you find anything?" asked Raiden.

"Yeah," said Snake. "A hell of a lot of C4's packed into the bottom of the strut. Pete called it right."

"I knew he had the real thing up his sleeve…," said Pete.

"So all the other ones were dummies?" asked Raiden.

"No, they're a threat all right, but the detonation wouldn't be enough to destroy the entire Shell," said Peter. "But the C4's Pliskin found would inflict serious structural damage."

"That's not the bad news either," Snake added. "These are sensor-proof."

"What!" Peter exclaimed.

"New model, I guess," said Snake. "The ionization sensor can't detect them. The whole thing is sealed tight to prevent vapor leak, and there's no trace of that cologne signature. Pete, looks like he fooled you."

"Yes…," Peter muttered.

"But you managed to find the thin anyway?" said Raiden.

"It was sheer luck," said Snake.

"Bombs that are invisible to the sensor…," Raiden mumbled.

"Any ideas, Pete?" asked Snake.

"Are there more out there?" asked Raiden.

"I'll go see for myself," said Peter.

"You can't move fast enough," said Raiden.

"He's right," said Snake. "I can try the spray from a distance."

"Hold on!" Peter interrupted. "There's something not right about this one, I can feel it."

"Well, Pete? Should I come back and get you?" Snake suggested.

"No, there's no need," said Peter. "Raiden, you have one left to go, correct?"

"Right," Raiden confirmed. "Except for those scentless ones."

"How about you, Pliskin?" asked Peter.

"I have two left not counting this one," Snake answered.

"Ok…," said Peter. "It'll have to be me. I have the level 4 that'll get me into Shell 2 in any case."

"You'll never make it," said Raiden. "With that bad leg of yours, they'll spot you for sure."

"That won't happen," said Peter. "I.. I can walk just fine. I can even run…"

"What do you mean?" asked Snake.

"That bomb, five years ago. I messed up," Peter said with remorse. "Even with all my experience, I lost it. And a church was lost in the explosion. All those kids playing nearby too… These past five years, I've lived a lie."

"Lied?" said a perplexed Raiden.

"Yes, lied," said Peter. "I didn't lose my leg in the explosion. So many dead – all because of my mistake. All I could think about was hiding from the crime, shielding myself from the public outcry. I wanted people to be sorry for me, for my weakness… I faked being a victim myself because I couldn't bear to face the families of the real victims. This is no prosthetic. I can keep my footing on catwalks and hike over deserts.

I hid my lie so well I haven't even answered to myself for my sins… It was supposed to be a shield. And it's become a shroud instead. I've killed my soul by playing the victim. Instead of protecting me, it's made my life even more hellish."

"What good can that do the victims?" asked Snake.

"I know," Peter said with acceptance. "I'm a coward!"

"Hey," said Snake. "Pete…"

"God forgive me…" said Peter. "I can walk with my own two feet. And I need them to stop Fatman. His crimes are also mine – one of omission, and arrogance. No one should teach the skills I taught him without a clear conscience. This is the only way I can defuse my own sins."

"I get you, Pete," said Snake. "That's one's all yours. You got it, Raiden?"

"I understand," said Raiden.

"Pete, I've taken care of guards in Struts G and H of Shell 2," said Snake. "I wouldn't recommend you go into any of the other struts."

"I owe you one," said Peter.

"I'll get back to freezing the baby bombs then," said Snake.

"You do that too, Raiden," said Peter.

"I'm on it," said Raiden.

"I'll have the radio with me, if you need to get in touch," said Peter. "Just don't ask for 'Peg-Legged Peter.' He's gone for good."

Snake continued to scour Shell 2 for C4 until Raiden radioed him and Peter.

"I have the last C4 frozen," said Raiden. "There's nothing showing up on the sensor now."

"Good work, Raiden," said Peter.

"You're way ahead of me, kid," said Snake. "I still have one to go."

"How's your bomb, Peter?" asked Raiden.

"It's a bomb all right," said Peter. "Sealed C4, and in huge quantities…"

"You think there's another one in Shell 1?" asked Raiden.

"For sure," said Peter. "Somewhere at the bottom of Strut A."

"Why are you so certain?" asked Raiden.

"If this bottom section of the strut is demolished, Shell 2 will be well on its way to destruction," Peter explained.

"You mean that Shell 2 will actually sink?" asked Snake.

"Not immediately," said Peter. "There'll still be five struts left. But, if Shell 1 loses a strut at the same time, it'll be a very different story. The Big Shell's structural integrity depends on a very exact balance. If both Shells lose a strut each, the whole structure will tear itself apart under its own weight."

"What do we do?" asked Raiden.

"I have a sensor that can locate event those scentless C4's," said Peter. "It makes combined use of a neuron scintillator and a hydrogen bomb detector."

"You brought that stuff with you?" asked Raiden.

"Of course," said Peter. "I made the calibrations while I was in the pantry."

"Does it work?" asked Raiden.

"I just tested it, and it definitely responds," said Peter. "But the best I can do is a sound beacon, not the radar."

"Sound?" asked Raiden.

"The shorter the interval between beacons, the closer the target," Peter explained.

"I get you," said Raiden.

"There's another one in that pantry I was in," said Peter. "You can go back and get it."

"It's all yours, Raiden," said Snake.

"I'm going to study it some more, and see if the freezing process will work," said Peter. "Don't touch the other one until I say so."

"Ok," said Raiden. "I'll standby until you radio in."

Snake headed to the strut where the last decoy C4 was and noticed guards were searching the strut. Snake radioed Raiden and Peter and heard Peter ask about his progress.

"A few more minutes…," said Snake. "I just got to the last strut, but there are a few enemy sentries I have to take care of."

Snake quickly dispatched the enemy soldiers and found the last C4 bomb.

"This is Pliskin," Snake radioed in. "I've located the last C4."

"Is that it?!" asked Peter.

"I'm about to freeze it," said Snake. "Then -"

"Wait!" Peter exclaimed. "Pliskin!"

Snake froze the last C4 bomb, much to Peter's horror.

"Damn!" Peter shouted. "That WAS it!"

"What's going on!?" asked Snake.

"The detonator just woke up," said Peter. "It's counting down!"

"What happened!?" asked Raiden.

"The big ones were rigged to be activated when all the baby C4's went offline…," said Peter. "Raiden, the one in Shell 1 should be counting down too. Hurray!"

Snake's codec started beeping and he switched frequencies to Otacon.

"Snake, I'm headed your way now," said Otacon. "How are things going for you?"

"There are two big caches of C4 that are about to blow," Snake explained. "Pete's handling the one on Shell 2 while the kid's dealing with Strut 1."

"Do you think they can stop them?"

"If they don't, then it'll be the Tanker all over again," Snake answered.

Snake's codec started beeping once more and he switched over to Peter's frequency.

"Raiden, Pliskin, listen carefully," said Peter.

"What is it?" asked Raiden.

"I fell for it," said Peter.

"Fell for what?" asked Snake.

"Fatman has my number," said Peter. "A proximity trigger. Microwave."

"Microwave?" said Raiden.

"With a 7-foot range," said Peter. "It's not a technique I taught him. Neither was that multi-bomb booby trap. Looks like he's far surpassed me as far as explosives technique goes. As for the rest -"

"Pete, get the hell out of there!" Snake demanded.

"There's less than 30 seconds left," said Peter. "It's too late."

"No!" Raiden exclaimed.

"Pliskin, get away from Strut H, as fast as you can," Peter instructed.

"Pete -" said Snake.

"Raiden, keep your distance," Peter instructed. "Use the spray from as far as possible."

"Me?" asked Raiden.

"You can do it," said Peter. "I know it."

"I'm not so sure…," said Raiden.

"But I am," said Peter. Do it, I know you can."

Suddenly, Snake heard the Shell 2's C4 go off and the force of the explosion flung him towards a nearby wall, knocking him unconscious.


	5. Sons of Big Boss - Solid

Snake opened his eyes was surprised to find Otacon standing over him.

"You're finally up," said Otacon.

"What happened?" asked Snake.

"The C4 went off and caused massive damage to Strut H. You're lucky you're alive."

"Yeah… I better see how the kid's doing."

Snake contacted Raiden and asked, "How're you doing, kid?"

"Pliskin!?" Raiden exclaimed. "Is everything all right?"

"Could be better. Looks like I was out cold for a while."

"How did you manage to stay alive?"

"Had a little help from a friend."

"Friend?"

"What about the bomb?"

"Defused. And Fatman too."

"That's good news."

"How's Shell 2?"

"It's a mess. The bomb crippled H Strut."

"What about the toxins?"

"The what?"

"If the Big Shell blows up, the explosion is expected to produce massive amounts of toxins…"

"I've never heard anything about that."

"Huh?"

"Well, looks like there's not much danger of that in any case. But the central core is starting to flood. It won't last much longer."

"What about the President and the other hostages?"

"They weren't in Shell 2. They must be in Shell 1."

"We need to get the hostages out of here now."

"It's too far from Manhattan for a swim."

"What about the lifeboats?"

"There don't seem to be any. Doesn't make sense."

"So a chopper is our only extraction?"

"Right. And it comes with a passenger limit. Intel has it that there are about thirty hostages."

"It'd be more than a single trip."

"We'll have to come back."

"Can you pilot a chopper?"

"No, but I brought a gearhead with me. He's a good guy. I'll introduce you later."

"Pliskin, I'm on the heliport right now, but I don't see their Harrier. It's out somewhere."

"We'd better move now then. Our chances with a Harrier after us are close to nothing."

"Do you know where the President is?"

"No. That one's all yours."

"The President is at the top of our rescue list. These are our orders, Lieutenant J.G.."

"Your orders. Not mine."

"What?"

"See you later."

Snake ended the call turned his attention to Otacon.

"Snake, I wasn't able to find her in any of Shell 1's struts outside of the core," said Otacon.

"The kid's gotta go there to rescue the President," said Snake. "If she's not here then that must mean she's here in Shell 2. Otacon… you go get the chopper ready for extraction. I'll try to see if I can dig up any info here."

"Snake, wait!"

"What is it?"

"I, uh, heard some interesting information while looking through Shell 1. It's about the boss of this Big Shell takeover. The one that's using your name. I know who he is."

"Who is he?"

"It's George Sears."

"The Ex-President? That explains why Dead Cell's not running rampant."

"There's something else though. He goes by another name… Solidus Snake."

"Solidus… Snake? You mean…"

"Yes, he's like you and Liquid. He's another son of Big Boss."

"Another one? Apparently Liquid was wrong. We weren't the only survivors of Les Enfants Terribles."

"Actually, Liquid wouldn't know about Solidus since he was made after you two. He's a perfect balance of Big Boss's dominant and recessive genes."

"So since the Patriots didn't like the dominant one and the recessive one is Liquid, they decided to make another one. That explains why he looked so much like Big Boss."

"Yes, it is weird that no one seemed to notice the resemblance. Also there's something else I heard. You know, even though Liquid's talk about genes was completely wrong… the most important thing that he was wrong about was who had what genes. Apparently, Liquid had the dominant Big Boss genes and you have the recessive ones."

"That explains why he just wouldn't die until FOXDIE kicked in. He got that from Big Boss."

"And yet the one they considered the weaker clone beat the superior one and original. It seems what Naomi said was right after all. With your track record, Solidus shouldn't be a problem."

"Don't make those fight sound like they were easy wins. The fights with Big Boss and Liquid were the toughest fights I've ever been through. One wrong move and I would have been dead."

"Maybe you two could talk it out then."

"I doubt it."

"You know… your family's done nothing but fight each other. How come you guys never thought about being… you know, a family."

"We're not a family. There's Big Boss and his 3 clones. And even if it wasn't that way, Big Boss betrayed me and FOXHOUND then tried to kill me. Years later, he resurfaced and we tried to kill each other. Years after that, I'm forced to out of retirement to deal with Liquid who definitely didn't want to talk. All he could think of is kill me because I killed Big Boss before he could have the chance and because of he thought he had the recessive genes. And I doubt Solidus will want to talk things out."

"Not even going to try, huh?"

"It's like me and Big Boss during the Outer Heaven Uprising and Zanzibar Land. We're on different sides of this war, which means one of us will die in this conflict. The question is… which one of us will it be."

"Don't you wish things could be different? I mean you guys could have been the most badass family of soldiers ever!"

"Otacon… in this life you learn to never think that way. It's makes life even harder. We can't change the events of the past no matter how much we want to. We can't change how many lives we stole, the deaths of our loved ones or the betrayal by those closest to you. All we can do is move forward."

"So you never questioned the past?"

"The only thing I questioned is how Big Boss was able to fight so well during the Outer Heaven Uprising."

"What do you mean?"

"When he was at the briefing, he was looked the same as always. But when I met him in Africa, he has a prosthetic left arm, shrapnel in his head and multiple scars across his face. Something must have happened between those two points of time. Not to mention he had a new arm and no shrapnel years later at Zanzibar. I don't know how he got the shrapnel removed without suffering any brain damage."

"Maybe it wasn't Big Boss."

"What do you mean?"

"Maybe it was someone who looked like Big Boss."

"Don't be ridiculous, Otacon, it couldn't have been anyone else. By the way, where did you hear this information?"

"I, uh, I heard it from Ocelot."

"Ocelot?"

"You see I was in the bathroom and he came in while talking to someone on a radio."

"Hm… Anyway, let's look around."


	6. Sons of Big Boss - Solidus

As Snake and Otacon explored Shell 2, Snake decided to contact Raiden to see how he was doing.

"Raiden, can you hear me?" asked Snake.

"Pliskin? Where have you been?" asked Raiden.

"Checking around. I'm in Strut H right now. How's the situation over there?"

"We have a lead on the President's location."

"Where is he?"

"Shell 2 Core, the first floor."

"I'm cut off from the core where I am. It's a mess here.

"All right. I'm on my way to Shell 2 right now."

"There are IR sensors in place on the connecting bridge between Shells 1 and 2. If you break the beams, the Semtex will go off."

"Yeah, I heard them talking about that."

"Target the control units and destroy them, Make sure you don't shoot the Semtex."

Snake ended the call and heard Otacon call out to him.

"Snake, I found something!" Otacon called out.

Snake caught up to Otacon who was standing in front of 2 KA-60 helicopters.

"Here's our ride," said Otacon. "But I wonder where the guards are?"

"Doesn't matter," said Snake. "We need to hurray up before the Harrier returns."

Snake and Otacon boarded the chopper and Otacon sat in the pilot's seat. The chopper rose from the strut and Snake threw 4 grenades at the other KA-60. Otacon piloted the chopper towards Shell 1 and Snake decided to contact Raiden to update him on their situation.

"Raiden, I found us a ride," said Snake.

"I'm all ears," said Raiden.

"One of the enemy's Kasatkas."

"Is it in good shape?"

"Full Tank. I'm heading for Shell 1 now. What about the Harrier?"

"It's not on the heliport here."

"Good, I'll set this one down there then."

"Can you cover the hostages? They're being held on the level B1 in the core. Pliskin, you didn't happen to find any other places where hostages were being held, did you?"

"No – nothing like that."

"Ok…"

"How many hostages are there?"

"There's a few short of thirty. One dead, and several wounded."

"The Kasatka's cargo area will hold thirteen max."

"What about the other Kasatka?"

"I sabotaged it. I can't come after us if it can't get off the ground."

"Oh."

"We'll have to make two trips."

"Can you fly a Kasatka?"

"I have a pilot who's flown the civilian model, the KA-62, in VR. There's not a whole lot of difference between the military KA-60 and the civilian model."

"Cleared for takeoff!" Otacon replied.

"Raiden, let me introduce you to my partner – Otacon," said Snake.

"Otacon?" asked Raiden.

"Hey, Raiden," said Otacon. "Nice to meet you."

At that moment, a few soldiers spotted the Kasatka and opened fired at it.

"Damn!" Snake exclaimed. "Raiden, I'll talk to you later."

Snake quickly eliminated the soldiers and Otacon flew past the Shell 1 and 2 connecting bridge. Snake waved at Raiden as he and Otacon flew towards Strut E. As they neared the heliport, Snake noticed Raiden talking to a man wearing a long black cape.

"Otacon, fly back to the bridge," said Snake.

"What's going on?" asked Otacon.

"I think Raiden's going to need some help," Snake replied.

Otacon turned the chopper around and headed back to the bridge.

"So you're the boss around here?" asked Raiden.

"No, not just around here," the man replied. "I'm the boss to surpass Big Boss himself. Solid Snake.

"No! That is not Solid Snake!" Snake yelled.

Raiden turned around and was surprised to find Snake has returned.

"What a pleasant surprise - - brother," the man said.

"Save it. You're no brother of mine," Snake declared.

"Don't say you've forgotten me - - Snake," the man said as he stepped out of the shadows.

"Snake?" said a confused Raiden.

"Raiden, take cover!" Snake yelled.

Snake unloaded a clip at the imposter, but he quickly moved out of the way, resulting in one of the bullets hitting the Semtex, detonating it. The man dashed forward from the explosion as his cape burned from the heat, revealing a full body exoskeleton. With the cape gone, Snake was able to get a clear look at the man's face. It was George Sears, otherwise known as Solidus Snake. Snake fired more shots at him, but Solidus deflected them with his exoskeleton.

"Brother, I'm a whole different game from Liquid!" said Solidus. "HRRRRR!"

Solidus muscles grew in size, shocking Raiden. Snake quickly loaded and fired a grenade at Solidus. Solidus responded by jumping into the air, dodging the explosion at the last second as Raiden was thrown into a nearby railing. Solidus landed on a nearby pipe and mockingly asked, "That the best you can do Snake?!"

Snake fired another grenade at Solidus, knocking him off the pipe.

"Did I get him?!" Snake wondered aloud.

Snake looked below and watched the Harrier, piloted by Vamp, rise up with Solidus on top of it.

"Otacon, we're in the trouble!" said Snake. "It's the Harrier!"

The Kasatka flew away to get some distance as Solidus muscles returned to normal. Solidus wobbled to the cockpit.

"The world only needs one Big Boss!" Solidus declared.

Solidus jumped into the cockpit and yelled, "I'll drown you fools for interfering!"

Solidus fired a missile at the door to Shell 1, effectively sealing off any chance of escape for Raiden. The Kasatka flew over to Raiden as Snake grabbed the Stinger Missile launcher.

"Raiden, this is the Stinger Missile launcher!" Snake said as he tossed it down to Raiden. "The Kasatka can't stand up to the Harrier. You have to shoot the Harrier down!"

"Snake, we got company!" said Otacon.

"I'm counting on you," Snake said to Raiden.

The Kasatka rose up as Raiden turned his attention to the Harrier.


	7. A Responsibility

Raiden dodged a barrage of missiles the Harrier fired as he flew over it. The Kasatka soon flew next to Raiden and Snake tossed Raiden a few more missiles. Raiden reloaded the Stinger and fired a homing missile at the Harrier. Deciding to finish Raiden off, Vamp piloted the Harrier over the bridge.

"I got this, Raiden," Snake said before firing several grenades at Harrier.

The Harrier flew past the Kasatka and circled around Shell 1. Raiden loaded another missile into the Stinger and aimed at the incoming Harrier. Raiden and the Harrier simultaneously fired their missiles at each other, unable to dodge the other's fire. To Raiden's surprise, Snake shot the missiles down with his rifle as the Raiden's missile crippled the Harrier.

The Harrier became unstable and started to rapidly lose altitude. It crashed into the connecting bridge, cutting off access to Shell 2 and fell towards the water. Snake watched the Harrier descend and noticed something rushing towards the surface.

"There's something coming up!" Snake said as he readied his rifle.

To Raiden's shock, Metal Gear RAY leaped out of the water and grabbed the Harrier.

"That's Metal Gear!?" Raiden exclaimed. "It's already active!"

Metal Gear RAY landed back in the water and fired off rocket clusters that rained down around the entire Big Shell. One of the cluster hit the Kasatka while another landed near Raiden, throwing him off the bridge. Raiden grabbed onto a nearby railing as Otacon piloted the Kasatka to the heliport.

From inside the cockpit of the Harrier, Solidus checked his left eye and was shocked to find it was gone.

"They got my eye," Solidus yelled.

Vamp stood up from the cockpit and Solidus yelled, "Vamp - - go!"

Vamp jumped out of the Harrier as Otacon landed the Kasatka at the heliport. As Raiden pulled himself up, Vamp ran across the surface of the water below.

"Hey, what's that - -?" asked Otacon.

"It's running on water…!" Snake replied.

Snake and Raiden watched Vamp run up one of the Strut legs as Metal Gear RAY dived into the water with Solidus. With both gone, Snake called Raiden and asked if he was all right.

"Yeah," said Raiden. "How about you guys?"

"Barely managed, but we're all right," Snake answered.

"The chopper?"

"We need some time for repairs."

"Oh…"

"The President's all yours."

"Ok… Can I ask you something?"

"What?"

"Are you THE Snake?"

Snake didn't respond, giving Raiden his answer.

"They said you were dead…" said Raiden.

"No, not me," said Snake. "There are still too many things I need to do."

"Snake, you're a legend – and that's why I need to ask you this."

"Legend? A legend is nothing but fiction. Someone tells it, someone else remembers, everybody passes it on."

"I'm here because I was assigned to this mission, not because I want to. If I could, I'd be out of here in a second. How could you come back to all of this? Why keep fighting?"

"There's something my best friend said to me once."

"Wha…?"

"We're not tools of the government or anyone else. Fighting was the only thing I was good at, but… at least I always fought for what I believed in…"

"What about – what about the DNA results from that body?"

"That was Liquid's body," Otacon chimed in. "He and Snake are identical on the genetic level."

"Liquid," Raiden repeated.

"A deception – for our own protection," Otacon explained. "We stole his frozen body from some organization. Kind of a hassle though…"

"That's all there is to it," said Snake.

"Are you two really an NGO?" asked Raiden.

"Insofar that we're a nonprofit organization of civilians advocating a cause, yes," Otacon answered. "The cause happens to be the eradication of Metal Gear."

"We work on our own," said Snake. "But it's a cause worth fighting for."

"Why would you stick your neck out for something this risky?" asked Raiden.

"That's the way I used to look at it, four years ago," said Snake. "I was holed up in the middle of nowhere in Alaska, drinking too much."

"We have a responsibility to the coming generations, to the world," said Otacon.

"What responsibility?" asked a baffled Raiden.

"To keep track of the mistakes we've made as a species," said Otacon.

"We need to remember – to spread the word – to fight for change," said Snake. "And that's what keeps me alive."

"You think you can change the future?" asked Raiden.

"I'm not as arrogant as that," Snake admitted.

"What you do isn't grassroot activism," said Raiden. "It's more like terrorism."

"I admit that…," said Snake.

"But our group, Philanthropy, received some information: a new Metal Gear prototype was being developed here, and terrorists were planning to raid the facility," Otacon explained. "The information came from a very reliable source.

"So you're here to…," Raiden started.

"We're here to stop all that, but I also have a personal motive," said Otacon.

"Looks like the terrorists have his sister in the Big Shell," said Snake. "We're here on our own, not under anyone's orders. We have our own battles. Otacon's here for someone – I'm not."

"This is a military mission," said Raiden.

To Snake's surprise, their call was immediately cut. Snake looked towards the bridge and watched Raiden talk to someone else on his codec.

"Otacon, we'll let Raiden do his thing for now," said Snake. "Right now, we need to fix this chopper before Arsenal Gear is activated."


	8. Tanker Incident Part 1

Hours later, Snake and Otacon finished patching up the Kasatka and decide it was time to check on Raiden. Snake called Raiden and asked for his status.

"Snake? The President… he's been assassinated," said Raiden.

"What?!" Snake exclaimed.

"There was nothing I could do –," Raiden said with remorse.

"What about the nuclear strike code sequence!?" asked Snake.

"He died before his vital ID could be reconfirmed," Raiden answered.

"Then the enemy's lost their nuclear strike capability -," said Snake.

"But that Ocelot guy obviously killed the President on purpose," said Raiden.

"Why?" asked Snake.

"It doesn't make any sense," said Raiden. "They had to know that they couldn't launch the nuke if they killed the President."

"Maybe there's a way to launch without reconfirming the Vital ID," Otacon theorized.

"Or maybe they've found a more effective weapon within Arsenal Gear," said Snake.

"You know about Arsenal Gear!?" Raiden exclaimed.

"Yeah…" Snake answered.

"Why didn't you tell me about it?!" asked Raiden.

"You never asked," Snake replied.

"Am I correct in assuming you also knew that the Big Shell's a front for the project?" asked Raiden.

You mean, did I know that the Big Shell, a fully functional environmental cleanup facility, was designed to camouflage Arsenal Gear? Yeah, I did," Snake answered. "It's exactly what the President and Ames described… a massive cover story. The good news is that it hasn't really done much in terms of cleaning up the environment, so we won't have to worry about any toxic gas being released if we have to blow the house down."

"Right… and when did you find out about all of this?" asked Raiden.

"It took a while, but we uncovered the info around the time you took out that mad bomber," said Snake.

Raiden sighed in disbelief.

"There's no doubt that Arsenal Gear is being built here…," said Snake. "Then it was all a set up two years ago on that day – all of it."

"Two years ago… What really happened here?" asked Raiden.

Snake thought back to when it all started. Two years ago, on a dark and stormy night, Snake walked along the George Washington Bridge in a long, black raincoat. He took his last puff from his cigarette before tossing it into traffic. He then broke into a jog before entering a full sprint. The heavy winds blew his raincoat off, but not before activating his Stealth Camouflage, rendering him invisible to the naked eye. Snake then leaped off the bridge with an elastic line as he fell towards a large oil tanker. The line snapped up and kept Snake from hitting the tanker. Snake then released himself from the line and landed on the ship. The hard landing shorted out his Stealth Camouflage and Snake surveyed the bridge he just jumped off, unaware that he was being watched. Snake immediately took cover and called Otacon.

"This is Snake. Do you read me, Otacon?" asked Snake.

"Loud and clear, Snake," Otacon answered.

"Kept you waiting, huh? I'm at the 'sneak point.'"

"Everything going okay?"

"The stealth camo's busted. Landing impact."

"We must have overused it. Sorry, but you're going to have to deal with it. You're not in the military anymore."

"Right. I didn't plan on relying on this gadget anyway."

"The private sector's not so bad, is it? Privacy guaranteed…"

"I'm happy as long as no on gives me any more unwanted gifts."

"You mean that thing with Naomi?"

"And I can't say I miss the chattering nanny."

"Mei Ling's not so bad. That reminds me, I have to get in touch with her again about that new Natik flashware."

"Diverting toys from the SSCEN (U.S. Army Soldiers Systers Center) again? Give her a message from me: someone will find out sooner or later. She's better off assuming it's sooner and quit while she's safe."

"Too true. Okay, Snake, let's get to work. You know the technical specs of Metal Gear were sold to the black market after Shadow Moses?"

"All Ocelot's doing…"

"Exactly. And now every state, group, and dotcom has its own version of Metal Gear."

"Not exactly a classified weapon for today's nuclear powers."

"This new one seems to be designed to wipe the floor with all the other models. The only consistent description is that it's an amphibious, anti-Metal Gear vehicle…"

"That explains why this one is under Marine Corps jurisdiction."

"The mission objective is to make visual confirmation of the Metal Gear being transported by that tanker, and bring back photographic evidence. But I want you to first go up to the top level of the infrastructure, to the bridge. We need to find out where the tanker is headed."

"A little reconnaissance, huh?"

"There's too much we don't know about this new prototype. Capabilities, deployment method – we don't even know how close it is to completion. If we know where the testing arena is, I can start to draw some reasonable conclusions."

"All right. I'll head to the bridge ASAP."

"Try to avoid confrontations. Our goal is to collect evidence on Metal Gear development and expose it to the world. It would be best if you could get out of there without alerting anyone."

"Don't worry. I know the drill – we're not terrorists."

"Very good. Don't you forget that you're a part of 'Philanthropy' now, an anti-Metal Gear organization and officially recognized by the UN."

"Recognized, but still fringe, Otacon."

"All right, let's look at your gear. Your weapon is a tranquilizer gun converted from a Beretta M92F.

"M9."

"It's a little hard to work with because you have to reload after each shot since the slide locks."

"It's better than scavenging on site. Good suppressor too."

The chemical stun will take effect in a few seconds and last for hours. You can take down an elephant with that thing. Check out the laser sighting too."

Snake dug through his equipment as Otacon continued.

"As for your equipment… Hey Snake, cigarettes? What's wrong with you?" asked Otacon.

"It's kind of a lucky charm," said Snake.

"You haven't read the surgeon general's warning, have you?"

Snake pulled out the digital camera he was given an used it to scan the deck. Snake spotted marine soldier patrolling and noted how unarmed they were.

"Hey, Earth to Snake. These are nice, upstanding Marines, not terrorists," said Otacon. "Don't get caught; you're in stealth mode here."

"Sure, if it comes to that, a little beauty sleep never hurt anyone," said Snake. "By the way, Otacon, are you sure of this intelligence?"

"Absolutely. Hacked it out of the Pentagon's classified files myself."

"No traces?"

"Oh please. I'm too good for that."

"But this might be a trap. Remember, there's a price on our heads."

"You're just being paranoid."

"I hope so."

Snake spotted another soldier and said, "Those men – you wouldn't think that they were anything but civilians from here."

"With all the ships passing on the river and in the harbor," said Otacon. "Putting uniformed Marines on the deck would be a bad idea. People can get a clear view of the water from riverside, too."

"The waterline is too high. According to the navigational plans, this ship should have discharged its cargo upriver."

"It's in there. No doubt about it."

"The military trains you to watch for threats from the stern on a boat. That's SOP for counter-terror ops, too. Security should be tighter."

"You worry too much."

"Where's the target?"

"Satellite surveillance is a major international pastime these days. I'd say the cargo holds, safely below the deck. Do you see the entrance to the holds?"

"Looks like there are a few entryways into the crew quarters."

Suddenly, Snake heard the rotors of a helicopter. He then watched soldiers silently kill the Marines on the deck.

"Looks like we're not the only ones after Metal Gear tonight," said Snake.

"Is that a chopper I just heard?" asked Otacon.

"Affirmative. Probably another cavalry. What's their game? Hijack?"

"They're probably targeting the ship's controls."

"Otacon, how many men do you need to take over a tanker of this size?"

"The ship is run by a computer so… I'd say about eighteen people."

Snake watched the hijackers load up their assault rifles and was surprised to find that they were AKS-74us. Snake continued to look around and noticed an old man.

"Russians?" said Snake.

"You sure?" asked Otacon.

"No Marine barber touched that head of hair."

Snake snapped a photo of the old man and sent it to Otacon for an ID. Snake then put the camera away and noticed that the Russian soldiers have taken over the Tanker. Snake then heard the rotors of a chopper and realized what kind it was.

"KA-60," said Snake. "Kasatka."

"Kasatka?" asked Otacon. "Kamov chopper, right? 'Killer Whale'… Look, Snake, all we need is photographic evidence of Metal Gear. As long as we have those… we can put it online and blow the whole thing wide open. So no pyrotechnics ok?"

"Alright, I'll do my best."

"This isn't like Shadow Moses. Reach me if anything happens."


	9. Tanker Incident Part 2

Using his signature stealth tactics and his environment to his advantage, Snake avoided the soldiers and made his way to the bridge. Snake slowly crept into the room filled with dead bodies and noticed a helicopter from the window.

"So it is the Kasatka…" said Snake. "Russian choppers…!"

Snake then checked the ships coordinates and soon received a call from Otacon.

"Snake, did you find out where that ship is headed?" asked Otacon.

"Looking at it… 35 degrees longitude, latitude around 58," said Snake.

"More than 500 miles off the coast of the Bermuda… Out in the middle of the Atlantic. So the prototype is ready for solo testing. Anyway, analysis can wait till later. Snake, you need to go down to the holds and locate the actual Metal..."

Before Otacon could finish his sentence, Snake heard a loud sound from outside and looked out the window, where he noticed a soldier strolling outside. Snake snuck outside and hid behind nearby crates as the soldier spoke into their radio.

"Control room, communications and engine room are under control," the soldier reported. "All entry and exit points to the tanker holds secured. Infrared sensors placed and operational."

"Good work," said the commander on the other side. "Are the explosives in place?"

"Yes, they're all planted."

"Listen. Once we have what we came for, the tanker will be scuttled."

"And the vehicle's pilot."

"He's the only one who underwent the VR training. No one else can do it."

"Are you sure you can trust him?"

"Your part in the mission is complete. You are to leave at once."

"No, it's not over yet!"

"I can see the moon… even in this storm. Pale of death. I have a bad feeling about this mission… You swore this to me. That you would leave the unit, once the mission was complete. Do not worry. This a country of 'liberty'"

"No! This is where I belong, with the unit. I have nowhere else to go."

The soldier pulled her handgun out of her holster and pleaded, "Father, I want to stay and fight."

"There is no choice to make here, Olga!" her father said in a stern voice. "Need I remind you that you're carrying my grandchild? You will be on the helicopter out of here, now!"

Her father cut the transmission and all Olga could mutter was, "Damn it!"

Olga noticed a Kasatka fly by with a fellow soldier telling her it was time to go. Olga refused to leave and Snake took the chance to hold her up.

"Freeze!" Snake yelled. "Hands over your head! Now!"

Olga raised her hands over her head as she nonchalantly turned towards Snake.

"Toss your gun overboard!" said Snake. "Slowly."

Olga did as she was told and Snake slowly moved closer allowing him to realize the gender of the soldier.

"A woman…?" said Snake. "Show your face."

"You men – you're all the same," Olga said before removing her cap.

"Who are you?" asked Snake.

"We are nomads. Wanderers."

Olga tossed her cap and slightly stepped to her right.

"I said don't move!" said Snake.

"Americans… so you shoot women too?" asked Olga.

"I'm a nomad too."

Olga chuckled at Snake's response and Snake noticed that she had more weapons on her.

"What else do you have there?" asked Snake. "Take the knife and toss it."

Olga grabbed her Spetsnaz NRS-2 Special Scout Knife and lowered her stance to place it on the ground.

"Not there," said Snake. "Toss it overboard!"

Olga stood up and Snake said, "Hold that position. Now, turn around."

"You know what you're doing," said Olga.

Suddenly, the tanker was hit by a wave with enough power to make it shake and soon the storm stopped.

Olga looked back at New York in the distance and said, "It stopped raining… Not too shabby, is it? New York, I mean?"

Olga quickly sun around and fired a bullet from her knife, which Snake dodged at the last second. She then dropped her knife, grabbed her USP handgun and hid behind a nearby shelf.

"And that brings our tour to its conclusion!" said Olga.

"Scout knife with a surprise – you a Spetsnaz?" asked Snake.

"I think you deserve a little credit. No one's ever dodged that shot of mine… But no one gets lucky twice, either!"

Snake quickly rolled behind a pair of crates and shoot a dart at Olga from the opening between them. He then rolled behind another crate as Olga hid behind the shelf and reloaded her gun.

"I've been with the unit since I was born," said Olga. "I grew up on the battlefield. Conflict and victory were my parents. The unit is my life, my family. We've shared everything – all the bad and all the good. I have no one – nothing except the unit."

Snake and Olga continued to move from cover to cover getting a shot in whenever they can.

"Whoever you are, you're not stopping us!" Olga shouted.

But then Olga's vison started to blur giving Snake the opportunity to shoot another dart at her. Olga moved to another hiding place, but her slowed reaction time allowed Snake to get another shot in. Snake watched Olga stumble over and collapse next to a crate. Snake then approached Olga and checked her, causing her unconscious body to fall over. He then grabbed her USP and decided to get back to his main objective. Snake stood up and from the corner of his eye, noticed a Cypher fly up to him. After a few seconds pass by, the Cypher flew away, leaving Snake confused and surprised.

"CYPHER?! Snake exclaimed.

With no one else in the vicinity, Snake called Otacon to inform him of the current situation.

"Otacon, the ship appears to be under their control," Snake reported. "The men have Russian gear, but I haven't been able to find out anything else about their origin."

"I know who they are," said Otacon.

"You do?"

"We've ID'd the old man."

"Who is he?"

"Sergei Gurlukovich."

"Gurlukovich…! One of Ocelot's allies?"

"Yeah… The GRU Colonel. He's the one Ocelot was supposed to meet up with, after Shadow Moses…"

"They're after Metal Gear…"

"Everything's changed. This is not going to be as simple as we thought."

"You could say that. I saw a surveillance remote just now, it looked like a Cypher."

"A Marine Cypher-T?"

"No, Army."

"First the Marines, then the Russians - now the Army…?"

"You're right, this isn't going to be simple."

"Snake – There's something I have to tell you."

"What?"

"We didn't dig up this info – about the new Metal Gear – on our own. Not like usual…"

"How did you find out, then?"

"It was a tip. An anonymous tip."

"Anonymous? You've never trusted those – why would you start now?"

"I, ah – I have a younger sister. A stepsister. We have different parents… I only knew her for two years."

"You never mentioned her before. So…?"

"The sender of the tip was 'E.E.'"

"'E.E.'?"

"Her name is Emma, but I always called her 'E.E.'…"

"Emma Emmerich?"

"Yeah. It just caught my eye, you know? I figured it was a coincidence, but I couldn't get it out of my mind. There's really no one out there who knows about her."

"When was the last time you saw her?"

"Over 10 years ago."

"You think it's a trap? To lure us out here…?"

"I don't know. After I got the tip. I did break into the Pentagon system to get confirmation."

"Okay…"

"Watch your back, Snake. Maybe I screwed up."


	10. Tanker Incident Part 3

Snake snuck deeper into the tanker and slowly crept through a long corridor. Suddenly, he heard a sound from the end of the corridor and ducked behind a nearby crate. Soon, three Gurlukovich soldiers walked out of the hatch door at the end of the corridor. One of them called Sergei and reported, "Colonel, we have sealed the stern hatch."

"All right," said Sergei.

"The lift is also under our control."

"We're on the foredeck. About to descend to the holds."

"Sir, the Marine commander has started his speech already."

"We will complete the preparations before the end of the speech."

"All communications to the holds have been severed. No one is aware of our presence."

"Let no one down into the holds until we are out."

"Yes sir! We will secure your exit, with our lives if necessary."

"There is one more thing..."

"Yes sir?"

"My daughter - keep her safe."

"Yes sir!"

The transmission ends and the three soldiers started to patrol through the corridor. Snake leaned up against the crate he was next to before one of the soldiers noticed his presence.

"Who goes there?" the soldier exclaimed.

The soldier alerted his comrades to Snake and soon more soldiers entered the room. Despite being outnumbered and outgunned, Snake dispatched his opposition and made his way to the hatch door, unaware that another soldier was watching him from behind. Snake walked through the door and the soldier quietly closed it behind him. The soldier breathed a sigh of relief before he heard someone approaching him from behind.

"Who goes there?" the soldier asked as he raised his rifle.

To the soldier's surprise, it was Ocelot.

"Oh, Shalashaska," the soldier said as he lowered his gun. "Why are you here? We thought you were with the Colonel."

Without saying a word, Ocelot pulled his Single Colt Action Army Revolver out of his hoister and aimed it at the soldier.

"What the…!" the soldier exclaimed before he was shot in the face.

Ocelot sealed the hatch door and then looked at the corpse.

"The colonel will be joining you soon…"

Snake reached the holds of the tanker and spotted a group of Marines standing below watching a projection movie of a speech by the Marine commander. Otacon contacted him and asked, "Snake, are you in yet? Have you made it to the holds?"

"It's taking longer than I expected," said Snake. "We've already passed the Verrazano Bridge."

"All right," said Otacon. "We'll use another recovery point."

"They may be planning to change course."

"What?"

"The exits to the deck are all sealed."

"What are they planning?"

"If they get Metal Gear, we're going right off the fringe."

Snake peered down at the Marines and said, "The men down here are definitely Marines."

"If the deck is sealed off, they have no way of knowing that the ship's been taken over," said Otacon.

"I'm not interested in fighting these guys," said Snake. "The weapons won't do me much good here."

"Can you see Metal Gear?"

"No. I'll have to go around to the bow. They have some serious defenses here. I doubt the recent arrivals want to blast their way through the Marines either."

"Wonder where they're headed."

"I don't know... Not the beach, that's for sure."

"OK, Snake. Let's go over this one more time. Use the camera to get photographic evidence of the Metal Gear prototype. Now, do your thing and take pictures that speak louder than the government's plausible denials. We need four shots: Metal Gear from the front, front-right, and front-left, and a close-up of the Marine Corps marking."

"Marking?"

"There should be a "MARINES" insignia on the body of Metal Gear. Just let someone try explaining away a clear shot of that."

"All right."

"There's actually one little thing..."

"Just spit it out. I'm used to things going wrong."

"It looks like someone's monitoring our transmission."

"Who?"

"I don't have a clue. All they're doing is watching - it would me out less if they tried to interfere with our communications."

"Could it have something to do with that Cypher we saw?"

"Maybe. I've switched the encryption protocol for our burst transmission for now. What I want to do is use a different method for sending those photos, just in case."

"Instead of using the Codec?"

"Exactly. There's a workstation in the southeast corner of the block where Metal Gear is housed. I've made arrangements so that you can send the pictures from the machine."

"'Arrangements'"?

"I hitched a ride on Link 16 into U.S. military's proprietary network. Managed to get into that workstation and overwrote a part of the system software so I could remote-install a little app I wrote..."

"Why bother with anything that complicated..."

"No, it's pretty simple, really. Look, all you have to do is stand in front of the machine and start it up. The app will automatically launch and download the image data from the camera, split the files and encrypt them individually. The data packets can then masquerade as...

"OK, OK. So all I have to do is power up the computer once I have the pictures, right?"

"Well, sure, if you put it that way. And one more thing... The Commandant's already begun his speech, but you need to get the pictures before he's done talking. Otherwise, they'll spot you. OK?"

"How much time do I have?"

"I hacked into his personal files and took a look at the text of that speech. I'd say you have seven more minutes - longer if he throws in a joke or two."

"A seven-minute time limit, huh?"

"Remember, Snake, just the photos, OK?"

"With these kinds of odds, I won't be making any sudden moves. But that doesn't mean we can just let Metal Gear be hijacked."

"Okay, okay, but first, the photos..."

"All right. We'll deal with the rest when we get there."

"Stay low."

Snake snuck past the Marines through the first two holds and walked into the third hold of the tanker, where he found a group of two dozen Marines watching the Marine Commander, Scott Dolph, give his speech. The group were flanked by two cameramen who are taping the speech. Behind the Marine Commander was Metal Gear RAY, the new Metal Gear prototype.

"Metal Gear?!" Snake muttered.

Snake proceeded to snap all the pictures he needed and used the machine to upload them to Otacon just as the commander finishes his speech.

"We the Marines will lead the charge into a new world order with Metal Gear RAY," said Dolph. "That is all. Dismissed!"

The Marines saluted the commander before clapping was heard from the rear of the hold. Dolph and the Marines looked around, puzzled, before Ocelot emerged from behind RAY.

"Excellent speech, my friend...," said Ocelot.

"Who the - !?" Dolph exclaimed as he turned around.

"Gift of the silver tongue - they say it's a mark of a good officer - and of a liar," said Ocelot. "Americans are too in love with the sound of their own voice to speak the truth."

"Identify yourself!" Dolph demanded as several Marines rushed to Dolph's side and trained their sights on the intruder.

"I am Shalashaska!" Ocelot introduced himself. "Also called Revolver –"

Snake recognized Ocelot as he steps forward and they both uttered the same word, "Ocelot."

The Marines tried to advance forward but they were held back by their commander.

"What do you want?" asked Dolph.

"This machine will be quite useful," said Ocelot.

"What are you planning to do - steal this thing?"

"Steal? No, no, I'm taking it back."

Snake moved to a different location where he could see an arm reaching out for the commandant. The arm grabbed the commandant and the Marines turned around to train their sights on Colonel Sergei Gurlukovich, who was holding a gun to the commandant's head.

"Gurlukovich..." Snake mumbled.

Gurlukovich took a few protective steps backwards with his hostage, his gun still trained on Dolph's head.

"Nobody move!" Ocelot instructed. "Understood?"

Ocelot stepped onto the platform as the Marines in the other holds started to panic. Ocelot raised a device above his head and announced, "This ship now carries enough SEMTEX on its key structural points to blow it out of the water - at the touch of this button."

The Marines, still holding their aim, slowly backed away from the intruders.

"That's right...no one has to die needlessly," said Ocelot.

Suddenly, Gurlukovich soldiers rappeled from the ceiling and took up positions covering their commanders from the Marines."

"We're almost at the target. Get a move on!" Ocelot instructed.

A group of soldiers started to undo the lines holding down Metal Gear Ray and Dolph asked, "What do you intend to do with RAY - sell it on the streets?"

"I was raised in Snezhinsk, formerly known as Chelyabinsk-70, the nuclear research outpost," Sergei replied.

"What are you talking about?"

"After the Cold War ended, my home was bought out by the Americans."

"Is there a point to this sad story?"

Gurlukovich angrily pressed his pistol against the commandant's head and continued.

"Not that you would understand," said Sergei. "Land, friends, dignity...all sold to the highest bidder - the United States of America. Even the technology that gave birth to these weapons is Russian, developed by us!"

"What do you intend to do?" asked Dolph.

"Russia will rise again - and RAY is the key," Sergei answered.

"I regret to inform you that I have no intention of selling Metal Gear," said Ocelot. "As I said, I came to take it back."

Ocelot walked in between the Marines and the Gurlukovich soldiers and said, "Yes - returned. To the Patriots!"

"The La-li-lu-le-lo!" Dolph exclaimed. "How's that possible!?"

Gurlukovich restrained the commandant and snarled at Ocelot, "Ocelot, you...! Have you sold us out?"

Ocelot chuckled and said, "I was never in your employ, Gurlukovich..."

"Are you still in league with Solidus...!?" asked Sergei.

"No hard feelings, Colonel," said Ocelot. "Mother Russia can rot, for all I care."

"Since when, Ocelot! When did you turn?"

"I'm glad you noticed comrade. I abandoned "her" during the Cold War."

Sergei snarled again, angered by Ocelot's betrayal.

"Metal Gear only has room for one!" said Ocelot. "Gurlukovich, you and your daughter will die here."

"Damn you!" Sergei shouted.

Gurlukovich released the commandant and shoved him forward at the same time Ocelot threw his trench coat into the air between him and Gurlukovich.

"Die, you dog!" Sergei yelled.

Both the Russians drew their weapons and fired madly. As the trench coat fell to the ground bullets ripped through it. When it finally settled, both the commandant and Gurlukovich fall to the ground.

"Sergei! Looks like you were long overdue for retirement," said Ocelot.

Ocelot dropped his revolver and Sergei muttered, "Traitorous dog..."

The surrounding Gurlukovich's soldiers drew their guns to fire at him. But, with lightning speed, he drew his second revolver and twirled in a quick circle burying one bullet in each soldier. As they fell to the ground, Ocelot pulled out the detonator and announced, "Show's over! If you wish to live, I suggest you run now! This ship is still in the Lower New York Harbor. You may yet make it to shore if you swim for your life!"

Ocelot pressed the detonator and the SEMTEX detonated, killing some of the Marines. One of the blasts punctured the hull of the ship and water started to pour into the chamber. As the Marines scramble, Ocelot climbed up to the upper platform of the hold and approached the open cockpit of Metal Gear Ray. A few Marines tried to shoot Ocelot but none of the shots hit their mark. Knowing he couldn't let Ocelot hijack RAY, Snake rushed forward and aimed at him.

"OCELOT!" Snake shouted.

Ocelot looked down at Snake, but before he could do anything, his arm started to twitch. Ocelot grabbed his right arm in pain. Suddenly, he straightened up but this time his was voice was different. He started speaking in a voice Snake was all too familiar with.

"It's been a while, brother!" said Ocelot.

"Who are you?" asked Snake.

"You know who I am," said Ocelot.

Snake didn't want to believe it but there was only one person who would talk to him like that.

"Liquid?" asked Snake.

"Not so young anymore, eh, Snake…" said Liquid. "You're drowning in time. I know what it's like, brother."

Snake tried to process this bizarre turn of events as Liquid continued, "No wonder Naomi passed you over for the FOXDIE program.

Ocelot's right arm started to twitch again and Snake heard Ocelot say, "Out - get out of my mind! Liquid…"

Ocelot let out a roar and after a few seconds of silence, Liquid said, "The price of physical prodigy… Few more years and you'll be another dead clone of the old man. Our raw materials are vintage, brother. Big Boss was in his 30s when they created his copies. But I - I live on, through this arm."

Snake took a closer look at Ocelot's right arm and realized that it was Liquid's. Suddenly, an explosion knocked Snake off his feet and Liquid took the chance to enter Metal Gear RAY. Liquid activated Metal Gear RAY just as Snake climbed back on to the platform.

"You don't have what it takes after all," said Liquid. "You're going down, Snake - with this tanker!"

Metal Gear RAY stomped on the platform Snake was standing on with enough force to fling Snake into a nearby wall, knocking him unconscious. A few minutes later, Snake woke up and found Metal Gear RAY running rampant.

"Otacon, we have a problem…" Snake reported.

Metal Gear Ray fired its hydraulic beam and ripped a hole into the tanker, allowing more water to rush in. The surge of water rushing in knocked Snake into the water, causing Otacon to yell, "Snaaaaake!"

Snake swam through the Holds and latched onto a ladder. Snake climbed out of the water and ran down the path he came through. Water came rushing in behind him and eventually the floor under him crumbled away, causing Snake to fall in the water. Snake looked around and spotted a hole large enough to swim through. Snake swam through the hole and swam to the surface. Once there, Snake noticed RAY land on the remains of the Tanker. RAY then back flipped into the river and disappeared.


	11. Puppets

Back in the Present, Snake used the codec to show Raiden an article that used the photos he took of RAY.

"I took these photos two years ago…" said Snake.

"I know these pictures," said Raiden. "They were on the news, several websites. If I remember right, the reporters blamed you for sinking the tanker…"

"That's right," said Snake. "Otacon… Me… We were used –"

"We'd hoped that by going public with the photos of the new Metal Gear we could persuade the government," Otacon explained. "At least that was the plan at the time…"

"I've gone through VR training of the tanker mission before," said Raiden.

"Yeah? Well I doubt it accurately simulates the events of that actual mission," said Snake. "I'd infiltrated the dummy tanker to obtain proof that a Metal Gear was under development. Shortly after I made it aboard, an armed group led by Colonel Gurlukovich raided the ship and gained control."

"Olga and Ocelot were among the raiding party," Otacon added.

"Yeah. And him..." said Snake.

"Who're you talking about?" asked Raiden.

"A man that was supposed to be dead," said Snake.

"Their target was also Metal Gear RAY," said Otacon. "But Ocelot eliminated Colonel Gurlukovich and Marine Commander Scott Dolph - and he hijacked RAY."

"So he betrayed them?" asked Raiden.

"I don't know what kind of deal was going down," said Snake. "All I remember is what Ocelot said at the time - something like, 'I'm taking it back'… "

"Ocelot then sank the tanker along with the soldiers of the Marine Corps..." Otacon added.

"How did you manage to get out?" asked Raiden.

"Otacon managed to have a small boat ready for me," Snake answered.

"That was the easy part," said Otacon. "The tough part was not getting dragged down with the sinking tanker - small miracle when you think about it. It turned out that the whole thing was a setup to lure us. Photos of Snake - taken by the Cypher - were released to the public. In turn, we became the world's most wanted environmental terrorists...

"It was definitely a move aimed at putting a stop to our anti-Metal Gear activities," said Snake.

"But why did they choose Snake?" asked Raiden.

"Since the Shadow Moses incident, Snake became sort of a hero," said Otacon. "I think the Patriots weren't too happy about that."

"You knew about the Patriots!?" asked a surprised Raiden.

"Well yes... to a certain degree," said Otacon."

"It seems like everyone knows about them except me," Raiden complained.

"They didn't choose Snake to be a hero..." said Otacon.

"So they decided to do a smear campaign," said Raiden.

"I think the Patriots wanted to make an example of him so everybody would think twice before opposing them," said Otacon.

"That's it! They set all this up just to nail you guys?" said Raiden.

"No. There's more to it than that -," said Otacon. "The Marines' Metal Gear RAY project headed by Commander Dolph was carried out in opposition to the Navy's Arsenal Gear project. To be more precise, the Patriots considered Metal Gear RAY to be a thorn in their side. Hence, they attacked the dummy tanker and stole RAY... They followed this up with the perfect plan. They immediately sent a fully loaded tanker to the same location and sank it, then set up facility to camouflage the development of Arsenal Gear."

"And we fell for it - two more puppets in their show," said Snake.

Raiden couldn't believe what he was told an started to wonder about the others involved in the incident.

"Colonel Gurlukovich... and his daughter, Olga?" asked Raiden.

"Both fell victim to Ocelot's plot," Otacon answered.

"Was Solidus behind all this?" asked Raiden. "He used Ocelot to get hold of RAY, huh?

"No. He was underground, keeping a low profile at the time," said Otacon.

"Then it must be the Patriots..." Raiden concluded.

"If that's the case, what's Ocelot doing alongside Solidus?" Otacon wondered.

"Forget it," said Snake. "We're wasting time. We can figure this out later. The nuclear strike's been prevented, but Arsenal still has a massive payload of missiles to deal with."

"Right," said Otacon. "If the opposition gets control of those missiles..."

"Raiden - you've got to find Emma," said Snake.

"Wait a second," said Raiden. "Isn't Emma Emmerich –"

"My sister," Otacon answered.

"What's she doing here?" asked Raiden.

"You got me," said the equally confused Otacon. "She's a computer whiz who specializes in neural-AI and ultra-variable volume data analysis using complex logic. How she got involved in weapons development is beyond me."

"Whatever her reasons, we need her in order to stop Arsenal," said Snake.

"Raiden - find her," Otacon instructed.

"I'm on my way," said Raiden.


	12. Cyborg Ninja

Snake and Otacon walked out of the Shell 1 Core Elevator and checked the B2 level.

"There's no one here," said Otacon.

"Most of guards must have boarded Arsenal already," said Snake.

The two of them walked into the computer room and Otacon noticed a green parrot in a cage. Otacon walked to the parrot and was shocked to hear it call his name.

"You okay?" asked Snake.

"Huh? Oh… yeah," Otacon replied. "I'll see what I can do while we wait for Emma."

Snake heard the parrot say Otacon's name again and again, each time causing his face to darken. Snake then called Raiden and informed them of their situation.

"Raiden, we've infiltrated the Computer Room," said Snake. "What's your situation?"

"Emma's safe," Raiden reported. "We're heading your way."

"I had a look at the system, but there's nothing I can do," said Otacon. "E.E.'s our only hope…"

"Right…" said Raiden. "I'll put her on then."

"Huh? E.E.? How?" asked Otacon.

"I'll use my Codec as a relay," Raiden explained.

Otacon, though nervous, cleared his throat and prepared himself as Raiden put Emma on.

"Uh… Hal…?" Emma mumbled.

"Ah… E.E.? Is that you?" asked Otacon.

"Hal…"

"E.E…. Uh… why're you involved with Metal Gear?"

"Huh?"

"You knew our family's dark history, and still got involved!? What's wrong with you!?"

"I should've known…"

"Answer me! Why are you repeating the same mistake?"

"…I wanted to hurt you… I wanted to see you suffer…"

"E.E….?"

"You abandoned me –"

"No! That's not what happened…"

"Alright – that's enough!" Snake interrupted.

Otacon lowered his head in shame as Emma asked Snake who he was.

"I'm a friend of Otacon's, Emma," Snake answered.

"Otacon…" Emma muttered.

"Enough with the sibling rivalry."

"That's not what this is!"

"We haven't got time for this! Raiden! Get her over here, right now."

"I – I…"

"Gotcha, Snake," said Raiden. "I'll head over there with Emma."

"Most of the enemy's aboard Arsenal. But I suggest you be careful," said Snake. "Make sure Emma gets here in one piece."

"Raiden… take care of my sister," said Otacon.

"Don't worry," Raiden reassured him. "I'll get her there."

Raiden ended the transmission and Snake turned to Otacon.

"Otacon, you stay here," said Snake. "I'm going to help Raiden get Emma over here."

"Right…" Otacon muttered. "Be careful, Snake."

Snake rushed to the elevator and used it to reach the first floor of the core. He then rushed out of the core and leaned against the outside wall. He peeked around the corner and to his surprise and utter shock, a cyborg ninja was standing a few feet away, talking on a radio.

"Gray Fox?" Snake wondered aloud. "No…"

Snake remembered Gray Fox's death at Shadow Moses and shook of any notions that he could have survived.

"Understood… I'll board Arsenal right away," said the Cyborg Ninja. "Also… my ch—you do anything to break our agreement and I will kill you."

The ninja lowered its radio and Snake used the opportunity to hold them up.

"Freeze!" Snake yelled. "Hands over your head! Now!"

The Cyborg Ninja nonchalantly turned to Snake and tossed its radio over the railing of the bridge.

"We finally meet again… Solid Snake," said the Cyborg Ninja.

"Who are you?" asked Snake.

"I'm a nomad."

"So you traded you're knife for a sword huh?"

The Cyborg Ninja's faceplate became transparent, revealing themselves to be Olga Gurlukovich.

"I'm glad you finally decided to show your face," said Olga. "Now I can avenge my father!"

With lightning speed, Olga drew her blade and swung it at Snake's head. With similar lightning speed, Snake dodged the blade and punched Olga away, causing her to drop her sword in the process.

"Listen, lady, you're making a mistake," said Snake.

"No. You're the one who made a mistake," said Olga. "You should have killed me along with my father because now, I'm going to send you to meet him."

Olga rushed at Snake and engaged him in a fist fight. Punches were parried, kicks were blocked and it seemed as if they were stuck in an eternal stalemate, until Snake feint a high kick. Olga raised her arms, leaving her bottom half open, allowing Snake to kick her left leg. Olga ducked under another kick and then jumped over him. Olga rushed him from behind, but Snake dodged her punch at the last second, kicked her in the stomach and double hammer fisted her to the ground. He then grabbed her right arm and tossed her at the Shell 1 Core Door.

"Listen, Olga, I wasn't the one who killed your father," said Snake.

"Who else would have killed him?!" asked Olga. "You wanted to stop us from hijacking RAY."

"And yet RAY still got away."

"I didn't say you were successful."

"Ocelot was the one who killed your father. Not me."

"Shalashaska?"

"He killed your father and comrades and hijacked Metal Gear for the Patriots."

"You mean- the entire incident…"

"It was a plot by the Patriots. We were all played. After Ocelot escaped, I found you adrift and got you out of there with the help of a friend."

Olga couldn't believe what she was just told. All the suffering that she and her comrades went through since that incident was all scripted.

"Damn it!" Olga shouted. "They played me all along."

"What do you mean?" asked Snake. "What are you really doing here?"

"The Patriots… After the incident with the tanker, I gave birth to a child. But what I didn't know was that the hospital I was at was owned by the Patriots. They kidnapped my child to force me into serving them."

"Then why are you working for Solidus?"

"The Patriots wanted me and my unit to join Solidus to help their other pawn to complete his mission."

"Raiden… But that would mean he'd would go against your unit."

"I know I'm selling them out – but my child…"

"Olga…"

"Don't say it. I don't want your pity. Right now, all I want is to guarantee my child's safety."

"I can help you there. You have to help Raiden stop Arsenal right? How can we get on?"

"Arsenal is too heavily guarded to sneak onto. Unless you had a distraction in mind?"

"I may have an idea. But I'll need your help."

"You want us to work together?"

"We share the same goal right now. It's a mutually beneficial partnership."

"What are you thinking?"

"We'll use Raiden to sneak on board. Once he's detained, you look for a moment to free him while I grab his gear. We'll handle the rest after that."

"Alright then, I'll wait for your signal."

Snake proceeded to make his way to Strut E until Olga called out to him.

"Snake! Just don't kill my comrades," said Olga.

"…That's a promise I can't make, Olga," said Snake.

"I know…"


	13. Emma

Suddenly, Snake was contacted by Raiden.

"This is Raiden, do you read me?" asked Raiden.

"Yeah," Snake acknowledged. "What's up?"

"We've made it to the lower part of Strut L. We'll have to cross the water from here."

"Can Emma walk?"

"She's okay. The pontoon bridge doesn't look too sturdy. Emma is going to have to cross it alone."

"Right… the oil fence –"

"There's Cyphers and several guards."

"Raiden, you're carrying a PSG1, aren't you?"

"Yeah."

"It's time to play sniper."

"Not bad. This spot gives me a good view of the targets."

"You're going to have to cover Emma until she crosses to Strut E. I'll get there and provide support of my own."

"Thanks."

"Think you can handle it?"

"Yeah. I know the drill. I've faced a similar situation in Advanced Mode Level 4 VR training with the PSG1."

"VR...? Guess that's better than nothing. Make sure you don't hit Emma."

"Right now, with Arsenal's boarding in progress, security should be at a minimum."

"That doesn't mean it's going to be easy. Given the situation, they've probably got Claymores in place to make up for the security shortage. Make sure you use your thermal goggles."

Snake ended the transmission and rushed to the bottom of Sturt E. Once there, he grabbed his sniper rifle and called Raiden.

"This is Snake. Can you hear me?" asked Snake.

"Yeah. Nice and clear," Raiden acknowledged.

"I've reached my sniping position on Strut E. I'll provide support fire from here.

"Right. Do me a favor and take out whatever I miss."

"Just call me when you want me to shoot."

But Raiden didn't require any assistance. He cleared the way for Emma assuring her safe passage to Strut E. But then, Vamp dropped down next to Emma and grabbed her. Vamp started to choke the life out of her until Raiden shot him in the head, sending him hurling into the water. Emma stumbled forward until she suddenly fell to the ground as blood started to seep through her shirt. Snake rushed down to help her, shooting down two Cyphers on the way and checked to see if Emma was still alive. He then picked her up and carried her away. On his way back to the computer room, he called Raiden to inform him of the situation.

"Raiden! Emma's been stabbed!" said Snake.

"That bastard!" said an enraged Raiden.

"How bad is it?!" asked Otacon.

"She's conscious… but the bleeding's bad," said Snake. "I'm bringing her over there right now!"

"E.E…." Otacon sorrowfully muttered.

"Raiden! Get that disc over here as soon as possible," Snake ordered. "I'm afraid her time is running out…"

"I'll be there!" said Raiden.

The transmission ended and Snake brought Emma to the computer room. Otacon rushed to her and allowed her to lean on him.

"Hal…" Emma muttered.

"E.E…." Otacon muttered back.

"Help me to a computer. I got to set up everything for the virus."

"But E.E., you're injured. You should rest."

"No, I need to do this!"

Emma stumbled to a nearby computer but her blood loss caused her to lose her balance. Otacon helped her keep her balance and Emma prepared the computer for the virus Raiden had.

"There… now we just need the disc Raiden has," Emma weakly explained.

Otacon then laid her down and bandaged her wound. Soon Raiden walked in and asked, "How's Emma?"

"I think he got some internal organs..." said Snake. "We can't stop the bleeding..."

Emma then looked up at Otacon and slowly raised her hand.

"H... Hal?" Emma weakly called out.

Otacon quickly took her hand and assured her that he was there for him. As Otacon comforted Emma, Snake leaned over to Raiden and asked if he had the disc. Raiden quickly grabbed the disc and handed it to Snake.

"Emma set everything up," said Snake. "Apparently, all you have to do is pop in the disc."

Snake inserted the disc into one of the computer's slots and said, "Um... that should insert the virus into the AI..."

"Is it working?" asked Raiden.

"Just leave it to Emma," Snake reassured him.

Suddenly, something popped up on the screen, alarming Snake and Raiden.

"What the - !?" Snake exclaimed.

"An antibody agent?" Otacon theorized.

Suddenly, the virus stopped uploading all together.

"Damn! The connections been cut!" Snake yelled.

"Has the virus been uploaded?" asked Raiden.

"I don't think so," said Snake. "The count's stopped at 90%. Otacon...?"

"I don't think Emma's made any mistakes..." said Otacon.

"But..." said Raiden.

"A portion of the worm cluster might've been altered after the disc left Emma's hands," said Otacon.

"By the Patriots?" asked Raiden.

"Will the virus still work?" asked Snake.

"I have no idea..." said Otacon.

Suddenly, Emma looked up at Otacon again and weakly asked, "Hal... is... everything all right…?"

Otacon wasn't sure what to say. He looked up at Snake, who shook quickly his head in response."

"Uh... It's alright... Everything's alright," Otacon assured her.

"Good..." said Emma. "At least I... I won't be adding... another page to our family's dark... history..."

"Yeah..." said Otacon. "That's right..."

What if that virus doesn't work?" Raiden asked Snake.

"Either destroy that thing, or take out Solidus and his men," Snake replied.

"How do we get on board? asked Raiden.

"I don't think we can, unless somebody inside gives us a hand," said Snake.

"Hal... I... I always..." Emma weakly said.

"What is it?" asked Otacon.

Emma reached up and caressed Otacon's face.

"...wanted to see you again," said Emma.

"You don't hate me?" asked Otacon.

"Never... I never wanted to get in your way... I never wanted to hurt you... I thought with Arsenal... If I follow in your footsteps... I could be… closer... I just wanted you to look at me... look at me... as a woman...

"E.E... I could never do that..."

"Don't be so honest... It ...hurts..."

"Sorry..."

"Can I... can I ask you one last favor...?"

"Sure…"

"Call me... call me… 'Emma'."

"What…?"

"Please call me... Emma."

Emma gingerly removed Otacon's glasses as tears rolled down his cheeks.

"What's wrong with E.E.?" asked Otacon.

Suddenly, Emma goes limp and both their glasses clattered to the floor.

"Emma... Emma? Emma!? Emma!? Answer me!" Otacon desperately pleaded.

Otacon bursts into tears as Snake and Raiden looked on.

"I didn't... I didn't leave you," Otacon sorrowfully admitted. "…because of the accident. I had a relationship with your mother. She seduced me... and it went on... My father's death… was no accident. He took his own life... It was my fault. All my fault. Forgive me, Emma...

Otacon cried some more until Emma's parrot called his name. After glancing at the parrot, Otacon slowly closed Emma's eyes and walked to it. He opened the cage and allowed it to perch on his right arm.

"Hal," the parrot said again.

Otacon started to cry once more and suddenly, there is an announcement over the PA.

"Attention! Arsenal Gear is ready for launch," said the Announcer. "Evacuate the upper levels immediately!"

"Sounds like they're cutting this area loose!" said Snake.

"What do you mean?!" asked Raiden.

"It means were gonna sink..." said Otacon.

"We have to get the hostages out!" said Snake.

"What about the Kamov repairs?" asked Raiden.

"Done," Otacon answered.

"We won't be able to get everybody aboard..." said Raiden.

"We'll just have to take as many as we can," said Snake.

"My sister..." Otacon said before hesitating. "…won't be able to come with us."

Suddenly, there was another announcement over the PA.

"We will be commencing the countdown shortly..." said the Announcer. "All personnel in the upper levels, head for the evacuation area immediately."

Otacon then remembered the death of the last woman he cared for and wondered aloud, "I'm always the survivor... Why, Wolf?"

"Otacon, take care of the hostages," said Snake.

"What about you guys?" asked Otacon.

"We got other arrangements..." Snake said as he glanced at the elevator to Arsenal Gear. "There's our ride out of here. Anyway, we're gonna have to sink that thing if the virus doesn't work."

"I should be going with you."

"You've got your job, we've got ours."

"You mean I'd only get in your way."

"Wrong."

Snake placed his hands on Otacon's shoulders and assured him, "Only you can save those hostages. Got it?"

"Right," Otacon said with a nod. "Listen, the two of you won't be able to destroy that thing."

Otacon walked forward, followed by Snake and Raiden.

"Eliminate the enemy… that's your only option," said Otacon.

They reach the elevator and Emma's parrot called his name again. Unable to contain himself anymore, Otacon banged his head against the door.

Otacon can't contain himself any more. He bangs his fist against the elevator door.

"Otacon! Try to get as many hostages out as you can," said Snake. "It's a short flight to the shore, so don't worry about overloading the Kamov."

Listen, Otacon, pull yourself together. You've got a job to do.

Otacon looked at Otacon and weepily said, "Leave it to me."

Snake and Otacon then performed a complicated handshake and finished it with a hug.

"I repeat! Personnel in the upper levels… head to the evacuation areas immediately," the Announcer said for the final time.

Snake place his hands on Otacon's shoulder once more and told him, "I'm counting on you, Otacon."

Otacon left with the Emma's parrot and made his way to the main elevator of the Shell 1 Core.

"Hal... I miss you… Hal... I miss you..." the parrot repeated. "I miss you… I miss you…"

Unable to contain himself again, Otacon fell to the ground and cried.

"You and me… we're the same…" said Otacon. "Both you and I... we were always alone... always... We only wanted to be loved... We were always waiting - waiting for somebody... somebody who would love us... But we were wrong... You can't wait to be loved. You have to go out and find it. Four years ago... I realized you can't wish for a happy family. You have to make it happen... I wish I knew that sooner. I learned that I could love...as you probably did... Emma...

Meanwhile, Raiden asked Snake if Otacon was going to be okay.

"He's tougher than he looks," Snake assured him as he handed him a disc. "Consider it done."

Raiden put the disc away and asked, "Now, how do we open this thing?"

Instead of answering his question, Snake looked up and said, "You can come out now!"

Suddenly, Olga dropped down in front of Raiden, shocking him.

"A ninja!?" Raiden exclaimed. "What the - ?"

"Arsenal is going to take off," Olga said as she pointed her sword at Raiden. "We still need you to take care of a few things... This time, do not fail us."

"Snake! What's this all about!?" asked Raiden.

"Bed time, Raiden," Snake replied.

Raiden makes a move for his gun, but Olga quickly placed his sword against his neck.

"I wouldn't do that!" Snake advised him.

"Your changing sides now!?" Raiden said in disbelief.

"Change sides? I don't recall saying I was on yours," Snake coldly retorted.

Soon turned here visor transparent to reveal her identity to Raiden.

"You!" Raiden exclaimed.

"Ready for some shut-eye?" said Olga.

Raiden tried to move out of the way but Olga's sword came down and struck him hard. An electric current coursed through his body, causing him to collapse on the ground.

Meanwhile, outside, the Big Shell started to collapse into the river. Water rushed through all the corridors and broke into the computer room where Emma lies. Otacon, piloting the Kasatka, watched the Big Shell sink and an enormous shadow move underwater towards New York.


	14. Fortune

A few hours later, Snake walked into Arsenal Gear Ascending Colon and noticed Raiden wandering around naked.

"Amazing how you walk around like that," said Snake.

Raiden turned around and was surprised to find Snake behind him.

"Snake!" Raiden exclaimed.

"Been waiting long?"

Raiden sneezed and asked, "Where's my gear?"

Snake pointed behind him and gave Raiden time to suit up. After he was ready, Snake silently told Raiden to use his codec so they could talk in secret.

"Sorry about earlier," Snake apologized. "I had to use you as bait to gain access to Arsenal. It worked."

"Why didn't you tell me about Olga?" asked Raiden.

"You never asked."

"Uh!"

"Not happy about that? Get over it."

"…any effects of the virus yet?"

"Still waiting on that."

"So it was rigged by the Patriots?"

"Looks like it. From what I can tell, Arsenal is headed for Manhattan. I don't know what Solidus is planning, but we'll have to deal with it one way or another. There's also a troop of production-model RAYs ahead."

"How many units?"

"Twenty-five according to Olga."

"Twenty-five?!"

"Yeah. Can't say I've faced that many Metal Gears before, but – I think we can deal."

"No way we can…"

"We can because we have no other choice."

"How?"

"I've stocked up on Stinger missiles. Oh yeah, Olga left this for you."

Snake ended the codec call and handed Raiden Olga's High-Frequency Blade.

"Why?" asked Raiden.

"Olga asked me to give it to you," said Snake. "Besides, I'm not a big fan of blades."

Raiden took a minute to learn how to use the blade and then sheathed it.

"Come on, time to go," said Snake.

"Wait up, Snake," said Raiden.

"What?"

"Snake, have you ever – enjoyed killing someone?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm not sure. Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference between reality and a game..."

"Diminished sense of reality, huh?" VR training will do that."

"No, it was field training, when I was a kid. I lied, Snake. I have more field experience than I can remember. It's not VR that's doing this to me."

"Raiden, we don't carry guns to take people down. We're not here to help some politician either."

"You can say that because you're a legend, a hero. I'm Jack the Ripper, a dirty reminder – of a terrible mistake."

"Legends don't mean a whole lot. I was just a name to exploit. Just like you."

"People will only remember the good part, the right part of what you did."

"There's no right part in murder, not ever. And we're not in this to make a name for ourselves."

"Then what are you and Otacon fighting for?"

"A future. You can stop being part of a mistake, starting now."

"What am I – what am I supposed to do?"

Snake grabbed his M4 assault rifle as Raiden grabbed his SOCOM handgun and they slowly walked into Arsenal's Ileum.

"Find something to believe in," Snake answered. "And find it for yourself. And when you do, pass it on to the future."

"Believe in what?" asked Raiden.

"That's your problem. Come on!"

Suddenly they received a call from Otacon.

"Snake, Raiden!" said Otacon.

"Otacon! You all right?" asked Snake.

"Yeah. So are all the hostages," said Otacon.

"That's good news," said Raiden.

"How's everything on your end?" asked Otacon.

"All right for now. But there is something –" said Raiden.

"What?"

"The Colonel's last transmission was strange."

"Strange? How?"

"Just – strange. No idea –"

"Interference?"

"I don't know."

"Where is this Colonel?"

"I don't know. I've never met the man, actually…"

"…I'll dig around."

"Thanks. I owe you one."

"If there's anything else, call me on the Codec, I might be able to help."

Suddenly, a Cypher flew by, caught a glimpse of Snake and Raiden and sounded the alarm. Soon the Arsenal Tengu swarmed in, forcing Snake and Raiden to blast their way through them to Arsenal's Sigmoid Colon. Once there, they received a call from Otacon, who had some interesting information.

"Raiden? About this Colonel of yours – I found out where he is," said Otacon.

"Where?" asked Raiden.

"Inside Arsenal."

"What?!"

"I keep checking out all the possibilities, but I keep coming back to Arsenal. It isn't a relay point, it's the origin of the signal. And, the encryption protocol it uses is exactly the same as that of Arsenal's AI – the so-called GW."

"What the hell does this mean?"

"I think it means – you've been talking to an AI."

"That's impossible!"

"The Colonel probably isn't GW per se. GW was most likely stimulating cortical activity in the dormant part of your brain- through signal manipulation of your own nanomachines. The Colonel is in part your own creation, cobbled together from expectations and experience…

"That's crazy…"

"But it's probably the truth. The virus may be starting to affect GW, which would explain the Colonel's behavior."

"It was all – an illusion? Everything I've done so far…?

"Raiden!" said Snake.

"Snake – what's happening around here?" asked Raiden, confused by what he just learned.

"I don't know. What I do know is that you're standing right here in front of me. Not an illusion – flesh and blood. It's your call. You can drop this if you want."

"No, I can't do that. Let's go…"

Snake and Raiden walk into the center of the Sigmoid Colon and are immediately surrounded by more Arsenal Tengu. After making short work of them, they heard someone walk their way and turn towards the source.

"Fortune…" said Raiden.

"It's been a long wait, Solid Snake – the root of all my sorrows," said Fortune.

"What?" asked Snake.

"Two years ago, you killed my father," said Fortune. "That was the beginning of hell for us. Everyone I love has been taken from me, one by one… and no matter how hard I try, I can't follow them. An endless nightmare… The only thing we live for is to see it end. Our wait is almost over."

"You can't be serious about firing the nuke!" said Raiden.

"Since no one can kill me, I may as well kill everyone I can," Fortune said as she aimed her Railgun at Snake. "Starting with you, Solid Snake!"

"Damn!" Raiden exclaimed.

"Looks like I'm today's pick," said Snake. "You go on ahead."

Raiden hesitated for a moment but then headed for the ladder behind them.

"You want eternal rest?" asked Snake. "I've got it right here."

"What are you going to do?" asked Raiden. "Bullets can't go near her."

I'll think of something," Snake replied. "There's no such thing as a witch."

"You think you can kill me?" asked Fortune.

"I don't know what you group's been through, but let's get one thing clear: I didn't kill your father," said Snake.

"Do you think anyone believes your lies!?" Fortune exclaimed.

"Raiden, get out of here!" Snake ordered.

Raiden climbed the ladder up to Arsenal's Rectum and Snake at Fortune.


	15. Lady Luck, Sons of Big Boss - Liquid

"I've captured Snake."

Fortune and the handcuffed Snake walked up to Solidus, who has Raiden in his grasp.

"S-Snake?" Raiden weakly muttered.

"Bring him in," Solidus said before choking Raiden unconscious. "Bring him too."

Fortune handcuffed the unconscious Raiden and lifted him over her shoulder. Solidus then led them to the top of Arsenal Gear, where Ocelot and an inactive Metal Gear RAY were waiting.

"It's been awhile, Solid Snake," said Ocelot. "Haven't seen you since the tanker. You were supposed to die that day, but of course… I shouldn't expect any less from the man with the same codename as the boss."

Fortune threw Raiden off of her and Solidus turned his attention to his brother.

"To be honest, I'm surprised your still alive too, brother," said Solidus.

"Everyone really expected me to die on that tanker," said Snake.

"That's not what I mean," said Solidus. "The FOXDIE that Naomi put in you was supposed to kill everyone involved in the Shadow Moses Incident. If it killed Liquid, then it should have killed you too. What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything," said Snake. "I just waited for death. It didn't come."

Solidus chuckled and said, "Well, death will come for you soon."

"You mad at me for killing Big Boss too?" asked Snake.

"No," said Solidus. "If there's anything I should be mad at is you killing him too soon."

"What do you mean?"

"Outer Heaven… Zanzibar Land… It wasn't just Big Boss trying to invoke eternal warfare. It was his way of fighting back against the Patriots. The Outer Heaven Uprising… Big Boss and the Patriots were each using you as a gamble piece. Big Boss expected you to be captured while the Patriots expected you to succeed in their name. It's because of that why they sent you to Zanzibar Land to do it again. You never realized that everything you've done was in the name of the Patriots!"

Snake remained silent as Solidus smiled, "But then again, maybe I should be grateful to you too. You killing Big Boss and Liquid means that I no longer have any completion to defeat the Patriots."

"You really are just like Big Boss, and not just in appearance," said Snake. "You're way of doing things doesn't make you any better than the Patriots."

"It's exactly that way of thinking that made you the failure of us brothers," said Solidus. "It only makes sense that the true son of Big Boss would be the one to do what he couldn't.

"You're not his son," said Snake. "You're just a science project that the Patriots decided to get rid of when you didn't want to do what they wanted anymore."

Solidus punched Snake and yelled, "This science project will be the one that frees the world from their hold!"

Suddenly, Raiden started to regain consciousness and Solidus asked, "Are you awake yet, Jack? GW, the Arsenal AI, is corrupted beyond repair. I admit I underestimated you..."

Solidus turned towards Raiden and said, "I'll squeeze the answers out of you instead, my son..."

Solidus grabbed Raiden around the throat with one of his tentacle arms and choked him.

"What do you hope to hear?" asked Fortune. "You know he doesn't know anything."

"It's not him I want the answers from," said Solidus.

Solidus let Raiden go and Fortune asked what he meant.

"That's not your business," said Solidus.

"Oh really? It so happens I have some business of my own to attend to," said Fortune.

Fortune turned to leave, but Solidus stopped her with just a few words.

"Planning to hijack Arsenal?" asked Solidus.

Fortune stopped in her tracks. She couldn't believe Solidus knew what she was planning.

"You were going to screw me over, weren't you?" asked Solidus.

"…Who talked?" asked Fortune. "Ocelot?"

"Not exactly," said Solidus. "I was the one who used Ocelot to suggest the idea to you in the first place."

"What?" Fortune said as she turned back towards Solidus.

"I was planning to give you Arsenal to begin with."

"...Why the uncharacteristic generosity?

"Hm. I'm no philanthropist. Arsenal is far from impregnable. It needs other Metal Gears as guards, a huge payload of warheads, and full air, sea, and land support to function efficiently. Against a large attack force without support, Arsenal is nothing more than a gigantic coffin. Seizing Arsenal Gear was never the real objective!"

"What was your objective, then?"

"A list of names - of the Patriots! They were planning to extend their control to digital information flow with GW and Arsenal. That means the information they want to filter out is contained in GW. Including that list of the highest twelve members of the Patriots' Wisemen's Committee."

"And once you knew who they were, you would cross out their name one by one... while we, with our useless Arsenal, drew their fire."

"Very good."

"You were using us all along."

"Were you any different?"

"But your plan's hit a snag with GW destroyed, hasn't it?"

"No - there is another way."

"Really… But we have our own plans to carry out. We'll take the Arsenal since you don't care for it anyway; The purified hydrogen bomb is ready to go."

"A nuclear strike won't stop them."

"It will damage their power source - the mindless masses that they control. First things first."

"Of course - that was what you wanted. I won't stop you. Good luck."

"Thanks, but I have quite enough of that."

Fortune began to walk away again but this time she was interrupted by Ocelot laughter.

"What exactly do you find so funny?" asked Fortune.

"Charades usually are humorous," said Ocelot. "I wouldn't have minded watching some more of it, but we're running a little short on time..."

"What are you talking about?" asked Solidus.

"Everything you've done here has been scripted - a little exercise set up by us."

"Exercise!?"

"The S3 Plan was conceived as a means to produce soldiers on par with Solid Snake. That's what I told you. But the VR Training the boy was put through is not the meat of the project. You think this little terrorist incident is your own doing, Solidus? THIS is the S3 training kernel - an orchestrated recreation of Shadow Moses.

"What!?"

"Ames and the President's deaths – the Ninja - the computer virus that mimics FOXDIE. Did you really think they were all a coincidence? Ames' own nanomachines were used to shut down his pacemaker. I arranged for the appearance of the Ninja as well. As for the President - although Johnson realized what was going on, he played out his allotted part. As for the computer virus, it's a digital counterpart of FOXDIE. It was also designed to eliminate every scrap of information regarding the Patriots from GW. Your plan was invalidated even before execution, Solidus.

Fatman was a different story. He's one of our own people, a sort of examiner we hired to test the boy's progress before letting him tackle the exercise proper. We had to arrange for Stillman's presence to coax the maniac into agreeing. If the boy had allowed the Big Shell to be destroyed, this exercise would have ended there. The project has no room for failures."

"What do you mean!?"

"Given the right situation, the right story, anyone can be shaped into Snake. Even rookies can fight like men of experience. An instant creation of genius - and this training kernel will provide more than enough data to formulate such a program. You, Dead Cell, Olga - you're all nothing but pawns placed to create the perfect simulation.

Solidus, you and the boy were selected because your relationship resembles the one between Snake and Big Boss. Fortune, you and the rest of Dead Cell stand in for the FOXHOUND squad that Snake took on in Shadow Moses. You're the most impressive collection of freaks outside of FOXHOUND. We've gone to a lot of trouble to set you up against the boy. That story about purified hydrogen bombs is just the tip of the iceberg. The project was already underway when I sunk that tanker along with your old man two years ago. Throwing your husband in the brig was a part of it too. You were told that the eradication of Dead Cell six months ago was an act of the Patriots. We provoked and encouraged your hatred - and you opted for vengeance, just as we planned."

"All orchestrated...?" asked Fortune.

"Except for the appearance of the real Solid Snake," said Ocelot. "I wonder now, who sent for you...?"

Fortune angrily readied her railgun and aimed it at Ocelot.

"All our misfortune was - just a part of their project!" said the angry Fortune.

Ocelot quickly pulled out a revolver and shot her in the chest. Stunned, Fortune looked at the bullet hole and wondered, "H-how could - !"

"You're no Lady Luck," said Ocelot. "You have nothing we didn't give you."

"What?" said Fortune.

"Do you know why no bullet could hit you? It wasn't magic or some New Age mumbo-jumbo. Certainly wasn't your psychic talents. It was all staged by the Patriots."

"Staged?"

"You were being shielded by the electromagnetic weapons technology that the Patriots developed. Your Dead Cell comrades loved your father and husband - we needed a pathetic wretch like you to keep them focused. You've been our puppet all along - just like Olga.

"No!"

"You were hamming it up as the tragic heroine thanks to the script that the Patriots wrote for you. Pure self-indulgence – absorbed in your own "misfortune," you couldn't get enough of the drama."

"...I could have died whenever I wanted to..."

Fortune stood up and readied her gun again.

"Hm? Thought I got her in the heart?" said the surprised Ocelot.

Fortune fired but the shot was deflected.

"It missed!" said Raiden.

"Now I remember," said Ocelot. "Your heart's on the right."

Fortune fired another shot, but the results are the same.

"Waste of metal, my dear," said Ocelot. "Your luck's run out."

Ocelot touched a small device on his belt and said, "This is the little gizmo. There is no such thing as miracles or the supernatural- only cutting-edge technology."

Solidus then grabbed his P90 and fired a whole clip at Ocelot, but all the shots were deflected.

"You bastard…" Fortune mumbled.

Fortune coughed up some blood and fell to the ground. Ocelot then leapt to the top of RAY's cockpit and stood on top of it. Solidus fired some missiles at Ocelot from his tentacle arms but once again they all go off course and miss. Ocelot taunted Solidus's attempts to kill him and jumped into RAY's cockpit, starting the Metal Gear up.

"Now that I have enough data, all I have to do is retrieve Arsenal... and clean up the refuse from the exercise," said Ocelot.

"Just try!" Solidus challenged.

Solidus unsheathed his two swords and held them ready. RAY fires a stream of bullets at Solidus but he smoothly deflected all of them with his swords, with one of them hitting Snake's handcuffs.

"How's this then!?" Ocelot yelled.

The missile holders on RAY open up and ready to fire.

"Damn!" Snake exclaimed.

Then, to everyone's surprised, Fortune stood up and staggered in front of Snake, Raiden and Solidus. up. She extended her palms outward and waited for RAY to fire.

"Fortune!" Raiden yelled.

"You idiot!" Solidus yelled. "Get the hell away from there!"

"I told you - your luck's run out," said Ocelot. "Take your reward: it's all the payload RAY has. Die!"

RAY fired all its missiles into the sky and soon they rained down towards the defenseless people atop Arsenal.

"Everybody down!" Snake yelled.

All the missiles came down atop Fortune but the, despite no longer having the device to achieve a feat, were all deflected, leaving everyone unscathed.

"What the - !" Ocelot exclaimed. "Impossible!"

Ocelot fired more missiles at them, but these too miss.

"She is Lady Luck," said Snake.

Fortune lowered her arms and proud stood up straight.

"My name is Helena Dolph Jackson," said Fortune. "The daughter of a proud, noble soldier..."

Helena stumbled forward and coughed as her only wish was about to come true.

"I can... see my family... again..." said Helena.

Helena succumbed to her wound and fell to the ground.

"Damn!" said Ocelot. "Try this instead!"

"No!"

Suddenly, Ocelot's right arm started to twitch.

"No!" yelled Ocelot. "No, not now!"

Instead of attacking them, RAY stood fully upright and Ocelot climbed out of the cockpit.

"Brothers!" Ocelot shouted in Liquid's voice.

"Liquid!" Snake yelled.

"I've been waiting for this," said Liquid.

"It can't be - ?" Solidus exclaimed.

"I've been inside this arm all along, waiting for the right time to awaken," Liquid explained.

"You were inside Ocelot?" asked Solidus.

"Yes - a sleeper in the arm of a Patriots' spy," Liquid answered.

"It was you two years ago!?" asked Snake.

"Exactly," said Liquid. "I was controlling him. Snake, it was I that leaked information about Arsenal to your partner and got you out here."

"What!" Snake exclaimed.

"You're the only one that can free me, after all..." said Liquid. "I'm off to bury the Patriots for good."

"You know where they are?" asked Solidus. "How?"

"Why do you think I choose Ocelot as my host?" Liquid asked back. "But before I go, I have a family matter to settle with both of you. There's room for only one Snake, and one Big Boss!"

Solidus fired missiles at Liquid but he was protected by the electromagnetic device on Ocelot's hip. Liquid then jumped back into the cockpit of RAY and slammed his fist down onto a button.

"Time to say goodbye," said Liquid.

RAY moved to the precipice that marks the edge of the bulk of Arsenal and Snake struggled to escape from his handcuffs.

"Damn!" yelled Snake.

"Like surfing? It's a good way to go," said Liquid.

After struggling enough, Snake broke his handcuffs and ran after RAY.

"Liquid! Stop this thing!" Snake demanded.

"Hey, Snake! You coming?" asked Liquid.

Snake let out a roar as he jumped after RAY into the water and latched on to its tail.

"Liquid!" Snake mumbled.

Snake placed a tracking device on RAY before starting to lose his grip.

"Goodbye, brother!" said Liquid. "I don't need you anymore."

Liquid activated RAY's underwater jets and blasted away into the deeps, leaving Snake behind. Snake quickly swam back to the surface and watched Arsenal Gear crash into Manhattan.

"Raiden!" Snake said before starting to make his way to Manhattan.


	16. Who am I really?

After killing Solidus, Raiden stood in front of Federal Hall, wondering what to make of everything that has happened.

"Who am I really..." asked Raiden.

"No one quite knows who or what they are."

Raiden turned around and found Snake standing right beside him.

"The memories you have and the role you were assigned are burdens you had to carry," said Snake. "It doesn't matter if they were real or not. That's never the point. There's no such thing in the world as absolute reality. Most of what they call real is actually fiction. What you think you seeis only as real as your brain tells you it is."

"Then, what am I supposed to believe in?" asked Raiden. "What am I going to leave behind when I'm through?"

"We can tell other people about - having faith. What we had faith in. What we found important enough to fight for. It's not whether you were right or wrong, but how much faith you were willing to have, that decides the future. The Patriots are a kind of ongoing fiction too, come to think of it..."

Snake could tell Raiden was having a hard time understanding what he meant and said, "Listen, don't obsess over words so much. Find the meaning behind the words, then decide. You can find your own name. And your own future..."

"Decide for myself...?" asked Raiden.

"And whatever you choose will be you," said Snake.

"I don't know if I can..."

"I know you didn't have much in terms of choices this time. But everything you felt, thought about during this mission is yours. And what you decide to do with them is your choice..."

"You mean start over?"

"Yeah, a clean slate. A new name, new memories. Choose your own legacy. It's for you to decide. It's up to you."

Snake noticed the Raiden wearing an object around his neck and asked, "By the way, what is that?"

Raiden took it off and realized they were dog tags.

"Dog tags?" said Raiden.

He stared at the dog tags and realized the name and other information on their weren't his own.

"Anyone you know?" asked Snake.

"No, never heard the name before," Raiden said as he threw the dog tags away. "I'll pick my own name...and my own life. I'll find something worth passing on. They taught me some good things too."

"I know. We've inherited freedom from all those who've fought for it. We all have the freedom to spread the word. Even me."

"Snake, what about Olga's child?"

"Don't worry, I'll find them. Count on it. As long as you keep yourself alive, they're safe.

"Do you know where Liquid went?"

"I put a transmitter on his RAY."

"Did he head for the Patriots?"

"Yeah. But I have a feeling they gave Ocelot a bogus location to begin with."

Raiden sighed in disappointment and Snake said, "Cheer up. We have a better lead."

Snake pulled a disc from his pocket and showed it to Raiden. It was the same disc he had given to him.

"This contains a list of all the Patriots," Snake explained.

"But Ocelot took it!" said the surprised Raiden.

"The one we gave you wasn't the real thing."

"What?"

"This virus is coded to destroy only a specific part of GW - namely the information about the Patriots identity. Which means, that there is a parameter coded in here that defines what that information is."

"I get it - analyze the code and you can probably find out where they operate. Count me in –"

"No, you have things to do first. And people you need to talk to..."

Snake walked away with the disc as he noticed Emma's parrot fly by.

"Life isn't just about passing on your genes. We can leave behind much more than just DNA. Through speech, music, literature and movies... what we've seen, heard, felt ...anger, joy and sorrow... these are the things I will pass on. That's what I live for.

We need to pass the torch, and let our children read our messy and sad history by its light. We have all the magic of the digital age to do that with. The human race will probably come to an end some time, and new species may rule over this planet. Earth may not be forever, but we still have the responsibility to leave what traces of life we can. Building the future and keeping the past alive are one and the same thing."


	17. Epilogue

"Snake, you there? It's me. I've finished going over that disc."

"Did you find the Patriots' list?"

"Of course. It contains the personal data of twelve people. There was a name on it - Snake, it was one of our biggest contributors."

"What's going on around here?"

"I don't know..."

"…Anyway, where are they?"

"Well, we were right about them being on Manhattan, but..."

"But what?"

"They're already dead. All twelve of them."

"When did it happen?"

"Well, ah...about a hundred years ago."

"What the hell…"

 **Metal Gear Solid 2 Sons of Liberty Another Side: Solid Snake: The End**


End file.
